Public Accounts and Estimates Committee
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND ESTIMATES COMMITTEE Budget estimates 2020–21 (Hutchins) Melbourne—Tuesday, 15 December 2020 MEMBERS Ms Lizzie Blandthorn—Chair Mr Danny O’Brien Mr Richard Riordan—Deputy Chair Ms Pauline Richards Mr Sam Hibbins Mr Tim Richardson Mr David Limbrick Ms Nina Taylor Mr Gary Maas Ms Bridget Vallence Tuesday, 15 December 2020 Public Accounts and Estimates Committee 1 WITNESSES Ms Natalie Hutchins, MP, Minister for Corrections, Ms Rebecca Falkingham, Secretary, Ms Larissa Strong, Acting Corrections Commissioner, Mr Ryan Phillips, Deputy Secretary, Corrections and Justice Services, and Ms Carly Edwards, Acting Deputy Secretary, Corrections and Justice Services, Department of Justice and Community Safety. The CHAIR: Thank you, Minister Hutchins. We will now resume with consideration of the corrections portfolio, and I will hand over to you for another 5-minute presentation, followed by questions from committee members. Thank you. Ms HUTCHINS: Thank you, everyone. We have got some slides to take you through. Visual presentation. Ms HUTCHINS: To give you a sense of the scale of the system across Victoria, there are 11 publicly operated prisons and three privately operated ones, we employ over 7000 people across our prisons and community corrections, we have one transition centre, and we currently have $1.8 billion worth of investment in infrastructure projects either being completed or underway. While numbers are trending upwards over the long term, over the 2019–20 period the prison population decreased from 8102 on 30 June 2019 down to 7151 on 30 June 2020. So we have seen a decline, as you can see at the end there. In terms of our COVID management, the government has quickly adapted the corrections system to ensure COVID-safe operations, and I am pleased to be able to report—and I know you have heard this from the previous minister today—we have had a total of 28 COVID-19 cases amongst our prisoners, with no prisoner-to-prisoner transfer to date in our system. Can I put on the record my gratitude to our staff across the corrections and youth justice systems, who worked extremely hard during this time. It is not easy wearing the PPE equipment that they had to wear during the time of dealing with both positive prisoners and also those in isolation. Our budget overview is to ensure that we are able to continue to meet this challenge, and the government has invested $103.6 million in both corrections and youth justice in the 2020–21 budget for a range of measures for us to continue to operate a COVID-safe place. We have also been able to deliver through this budget funding of $21.2 million over two years to ensure prisoners have access to quality VET education programs to reduce barriers to paid employment upon their release, and $6.7 million over two years have been committed to the critical capital upgrades at the Emu Creek facility. In addition to this, the budget has also had further investments to support increased access needs for the national disability insurance scheme for people in both corrections and youth justice, which has been an issue very much on our workforce up until now; to support the continuation of the tailored women’s psychological trauma counselling service to help address the high rates of mental health issues faced by women prisoners; and also to enable court assessment and prosecution services to continue to support the bail and remand court. Finally, on rehabilitation of offenders, our programs are absolutely critical in ensuring community safety and reducing reoffending. Our programs cover programs such as behavioural programs, forensic intervention programs, education and training, mental health, alcohol and drug services, transition and reintegration programs, and employment and jobs programs. The Victorian prison system provides a range of treatment options to help address substance abuse, and these services are targeted at both rehabilitation and reducing recidivism. Drugs in prisons have continued to be measured across our system, and we have been able to introduce additional measures, including reforms that cut off the supply routes and give staff authority to take Tuesday, 15 December 2020 Public Accounts and Estimates Committee 2 photocopies of incoming mail, which has somewhat stemmed the flow, and enhanced barrier control technology with the introduction of a new drone system program. As you can see from the graph, there has been significant reduction in the contraband and drugs in our prison system. As Victoria grows, our government knows that investing in infrastructure in our corrections system needs to keep our community safe. It is critical to plan and prepare for the long term, and that is what we are doing here with building upon the budget investments to ensure that we keep pace with demand. These builds that we have got across the state are enhancing community safety, creating hundreds of local jobs and in particular during the build period local jobs for apprentices, trainees and engineering cadets. You can see from that slide up there the breakdown of sites and new prison beds across the system. The CHAIR: Perfect timing, Minister. I will pass to Mr Danny O’Brien in the first instance. Mr D O’BRIEN: Thanks, Chair. Good afternoon, everyone. Could I start with Acting Commissioner Strong. We have previously been advised by your predecessor on the number of emergency management days awarded in relation to COVID-19. At 26 August it was 71 000 days granted to 4313 sentenced prisoners. I was wondering if you could give us an update on that figure now as a result of COVID-19. Ms STRONG: I understand we have provided those figures in September. I have to take it on notice and give you more update since September. As you know, the emergency management days have been used throughout the COVID pandemic in response to some lockdowns that we have applied to manage the risk of the pandemic for prisoners. We have also used them in the past when there was a fire at Port Phillip Prison in 2017 and also at Fulham’s industrial relations action in 2012, but I will get back to you on that number. Mr D O’BRIEN: Sorry, can you just pull the microphone a bit closer to you? That is better. So you will take that on notice? Ms STRONG: I will. Mr D O’BRIEN: Likewise, the data that was provided suggested it was an average of 16 days but that EMDs were granted, for quarantine at least, on a one-for-one basis, so if you were in quarantine for 14 days you would get 14 EMD days, all things being equal. I am just wondering why the average is so high. Ms STRONG: Again, I might have to take that on notice. I mean, EMDs can be granted for up to four days for every day of disruption. We look at the decision about whether or not to apply an EMD based on the individual circumstance, what the deprivation is, what the disruption is, whether the prisoner has been of good behaviour before a decision is made, so they are actually made on an individualised basis. However, as a general policy in terms of the lockdown with COVID we are more looking at kind of not granting up to four days. It is more the one-for-one component, as you suggested. Mr D O’BRIEN: And would that have applied across a lot of lockdown, as opposed to just prisoners who came in and had to quarantine for 14 days and be confined to cell for that period? Is it applied to the broader prison population who might have been locked down and unable to get out? Ms STRONG: Prisoners can apply. They can apply for any reason if they believe that they have been subject to disruption or deprivation, so certainly if they were in lockdown for a reason unrelated to COVID, for example, they could apply for an EMD and that would be considered on a case-by-case basis. Mr D O’BRIEN: But specifically related to COVID, is there a blanket application of EMDs or is it all on application? Ms STRONG: There is no blanket application, but we have a process whereby the application process is being streamlined so that we can streamline the application process and consider the decision about whether to apply the EMD. But prisoners do not have to apply and put in the application form, if you like. We have tried to streamline that process for all the COVID-related ones. Mr D O’BRIEN: Okay. Can I also ask: there was a report in the Age recently about 97 security incidents relating to drones near prisons since the suspension of visits; can you advise what the total quantity of contraband items including drugs and weapons has been as a result of those incidents? Tuesday, 15 December 2020 Public Accounts and Estimates Committee 3 Ms STRONG: Not the actual number. I mean, we have seen as we have not had face-to-face visits in prisons that prisoners have been more inventive in terms of how they get contraband into prisons. One way has been through incoming mail, the other means has been through drones. We have invested in drone detection technology, with the first drone detection system operational in October and all of them operational by November, in response to the fact that we were seeing drones dropping contraband into the prison system. In terms of the actual number due to drones, I will have to take on notice. Mr D O’BRIEN: If you could. So the question was: what items of drugs and weapons would have been seized as a result of the drones? Ms STRONG: The drops that we have seen, often they have had a range of different things.