Wednesday, 4 March 2026

 Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (19:08): (2381) My matter is for the Minister for Corrections and is concerning the practice of decanting – that is, the practice of shuffling detainees between police cells across Victoria due to a lack of prison beds. The action I seek is for the minister to urgently address the overcrowding crisis and outline how the government will ensure that individuals on remand are held in appropriate correctional facilities, not cycled indefinitely through police stations in conditions never intended for long-term detention.

A recent report revealed that on any given night around 300 Victorians are being moved between police cells sometimes hundreds of kilometres away as police attempt to manage an overstretched system. One unsentenced person – regardless of background, the same rights of care while in custody should apply to all – in this case an Indigenous man, was held in different police stations for 26 days, almost double the usual 14-day limit applied to police custody. I have been informed that the purpose of decanting is effectively to reset the clock and avoid breaches of regulations that are designed to protect detainees from the very harm occurring.

The community impacts are severe. Police cells are intended for short-term holding only, and people housed in them do not receive the same rights as those in correctional facilities. This includes limited access to fresh air, inadequate provision for health and wellbeing, and reduced ability to attend court in person, disadvantaging vulnerable individuals in an already strained justice system. Lawyers have also raised serious concerns about this practice, both for the safety of detainees and for the fairness of legal proceedings. The Police Association Victoria has warned that the system is under massive pressure, with officers increasingly forced into the role of actual prison guards, and this situation, they say, cannot continue. They fear that it is only a matter of time before a death in custody occurs as a direct consequence of overcrowding and extended stays in prison cells. To compound matters, recent bail reforms have led to sharp increases in remand populations, with 29 per cent more adults and 50 per cent more children requiring a call to a lawyer after the laws came into effect. These changes have intensified the demand for custody placement and heightened the crisis inside police and correctional facilities. Can the minister please immediately step in and end the over-reliance on police cells and see how the government can guarantee basic rights, safety and humane practice for every Victorian held in custody?