Corrections system
Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:22): (1288) My question is for the Minister for Corrections, Minister Erdogan. Minister, you have previously acknowledged that the cost of phone calls in Victoria’s prison system is excessive. Evidence to the Yoorrook Justice Commission found that a single 12-minute call can cost up to $12.73, around 10 times the highest standard rate for a phone call. Further, the Parliament’s 2023 inquiry into children with incarcerated parents found that the prohibitive costs of such phone calls actively damages parent–child relationships. My question to the minister is: can the government commit to making these phone calls free, to aid in family connection and rehabilitation?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:23): I thank Ms Payne for her question and her interest in these matters. From the outset I do want to thank the Yoorrook Justice Commission. It was a great privilege for me, and I know for many of the ministers that had the opportunity, to appear before the Yoorrook Justice Commission and contribute to that really groundbreaking and historic work. I do want to say there were commitments I made there, and commitments I am committed to keeping, in driving better outcomes, and one of them was around connection to family. We know that that is an important protective factor for people that find themselves in custodial settings. Just as we say employment and housing are protective factors, connection to family and community are key.
As part of that I was proud to announce last year a halving of the cost of mobile phone calls in custodial settings, and now they are among the cheapest phone calls in the nation – cheaper than in New South Wales, usually a good comparator for Victoria. But I do understand that it is not completely free, and there are quite important reasons for that. Our calls system that we operate is required to prioritise operational safety, and that means monitoring and other needs such as ensuring that people do not contact people they should not – for example, victims – and in the past that has happened. So it is important that we have it. We have free options in place, which I am proud to have rolled out across our system – in particular calls via Zoom or digital means, which we are rolling out – especially at our new state-of-the-art Western Plains prison. It has quite a digital set-up compared to historical prisons. I think that has been one of the big benefits of the upgraded, modern and effective corrections systems we lead. We have no plans to make those calls free, but they are among the cheapest in the nation.
Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:25): I thank the minister for his response. By way of supplementary, evidence to the Yoorrook Justice Commission showed that while video calls are free, many women who are incarcerated are not accessing them due to availability, that they may not be very reliable or a lack of awareness that they even exist. There are also concerns that some women are not comfortable with video calls for a range of reasons. How is the government ensuring equitable access to communication, including awareness of video calls?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:25): I thank Ms Payne for her supplementary question. I think part of that is in my answer to the substantive – that is, especially where we have got newer upgrades at facilities, we are rolling out access. That is part of I guess the induction to people’s new settings that all prisoners do get, and we have had a large increase in people that find themselves in custody. But it is about making sure that they are readily available too. I think that is work that Corrections Victoria is committed to doing and to rolling out across all our sites. Video calls are free, but I realise they are not necessarily for everyone, so we still have in-person visits, which have returned to post-COVID, and there is still access to phone calls. But it is about making sure that Corrections Victoria proactively notify prisoners of their rights, which they do take very seriously, and they do do that work. But particularly with upgrades across the system, I think that is a good opportunity for a reset.