Tuesday, 25 August 2026

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (21:59): (2717) My adjournment this evening is for the Attorney-General, and the action I seek is for the government to develop and implement an urgent whole-of-government plan to end deaths in custody in Victoria. On Sunday 16 August a 37-year-old man died shortly after he was taken into custody. During their interactions with him, Victoria Police deployed nonlethal tactical options. At some point after this, the man became unresponsive and could not be revived. A man is dead, and his family and his loved ones deserve answers. It is important we do not prejudge what occurred. The circumstances of his death must be thoroughly and independently examined, including through the coronial process. I also want to acknowledge the recent and incredibly tragic passing of 18-year-old Tarsha Golightly at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre very soon after she had been transferred there from Victoria’s youth justice system. I note that the coronial investigation into her death has also commenced. Two deaths in very different circumstances but both within Victoria’s criminal justice and custody system. Together these and all of those who have gone before should force us to ask a much broader question: what is this government actually doing to prevent and end people dying in the custody of this state?

A serious prevention response means reducing unnecessary incarceration and remand. It means making sure police cells are used only for short-term detention, not as substitute prisons. It means addressing dangerous conditions in police cells and in prisons. It means proper physical and mental health care from the moment someone enters custody, particularly with attention to people who are young, Aboriginal, unwell or otherwise vulnerable. It also means implementing coronial and Yoorrook Justice Commission recommendations and transparently tracking whether those recommendations have actually been delivered. I note that we do not forget that Veronica Nelson’s coronial inquest explicitly recommended an urgent review of Victoria’s implementation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and it recommended urgent bail reform, which the government has now gone some way to undoing. Attorney-General, this crisis is ongoing. People continue to die in the custody of this state. I urge you to lead the work across government and urgently establish a comprehensive plan to stop deaths in custody in Victoria.