Damning Government report slams Adult Parole Board for releasing serious offenders far too easily

UPDATE: PREMIER vows parole laws will be changed as a damning report reveals the file on Jill Meagher's killer did not have a full rundown of his criminal history.

Callinan's recommendations for the Adult Parole Board

THE PREMIER Denis Napthine has vowed parole laws will be changed to enshrine "community safety" as the Adult Parole Board's priority as a damning report reveals the file on Jill Meagher's killer did not have a full rundown of his criminal history.

Under sweeping changes proposed to Victoria's parole system by former High Court judge Ian Callinan, only those violent criminals, serious sex offenders and burglars who have a "negligible" chance of reoffending will be given parole.

It comes as it was claimed Jill Meagher's killer Adrian Bayley was granted parole without even appearing in person before the parole board.

And it has been revealed the board's file on Jill Meagher's murderer Adrian Bayley was "ill-organised" and did not contain a complete run-down of his criminal history.

Mr Callinan said the file on Bayley contained "repetitive material" including cuttings of the public outcry over the board's handling of the Bayley case.

And the names of the board members who granted Bayley parole were not disclosed in the file.

Mr Callinan said the board had "both cause and opportunity to cancel Bayley's parole" after Bayley appealed in 2012 against a sentence given to him for recklessly causing serious injury.

Bayley was on parole at the time of that appeal, and his appeal was still pending when he murdered Jill Meagher.

"It is no answer to say that he had an appeal pending," Mr Callinan wrote.

"It was an appeal against sentence only. Bayley was therefore both on parole, and on bail, when he raped and murdered Ms Meagher."

Mr Callinan said his review sought more information from the board during his review of the system.

"We asked for, and were provided with, the Bayley file which did not disclose the names of the members of the panel that granted parole to Bayley," he said.

"I regard that as a deficiency.

"The file was itself ill-organised and contained a deal of repetitive material including cuttings manifesting the entirely understandable public reaction to, and criticism of, the Board in this case.

"There was no single documentation containing a straightforward complete chronology of his criminal history or analytical material relating to it on the files."

Bayley was also left free to kill after receiving parole through paperwork alone, according to 3AW's Neil Mitchell.

CALLS FOR MAJOR CHANGES

Dr Napthine said today a number of the 23 recommendations will be adopted "swiftly".

The Adult Parole Board today released a statement saying Mr Callinan's recommendations would be "carefully considered", and that the board "stands ready" to assist the government.

Victims and their families will be given greater notice of offenders' release, even if that means the prisoner's release is delayed.

Serving police members will be put in the parole board's office, and board members will have term limits of six to nine years.

"The emphasis of the Adult Parole Board in Victoria was misguided, and it was wrong," Dr Napthine said.

"The consequences have been totally and utterly unacceptable.

"That will change, that will change from today."

Opposition leader Daniel Andrews welcomed the release of the report but said he was concerned about the budget restraints of the Parole Board.

"We do have significant concerns about the resources that will be required to implement the recommendations that Justice Callinan has made and the government's initial response," Mr Andrews said.

"We certainly think that various elements of our public sector are compromised in responding to these sort of recommendations given the slash and burn cutbacks that we have seen in Justice, in Corrections Victoria, in Victoria Police particularly," he said.

The Callinan Report, which was commissioned in the wake of Ms Meagher's murder last year by parolee rapist Bayley, also recommends making it harder for these offenders to get parole by introducing a review panel which can overturn decisions to release them.

Put the public's safety before criminals

Mr Callinan found that under the current Adult Parole Board "it has proved to be too easy for serious violent and sexual offenders to obtain and to remain on parole'' and that "the balance in relation to the grant of parole, its cancellation and the revocation of cancellations may have been tilted too far in favour of offenders, and sometimes, even very serious offenders''.

He also found that "in practice the paramountcy of the safety of the public has not been given the prominence it deserves'' and has called for this to be remedied by legislation.

The report has been considered by a cabinet subcommittee of Premier Napthine, Corrections Minister Edward O'Donohue, Attorney-General Robert Clark and Police Minister Kim Wells.

-with Annika Smethurst

Justice of The High Court of Australia, Judge Ian Callinan.

The committee is believed to have been broadly supportive of the report's findings but raised concerns over how its finding would be implemented in practice.

In a damming assessment of the board's culture Mr Callinan said that its members were in danger of "institutionalisation''.

"As a result of some of my discussions, I became concerned that there are those involved in the work of the Board who might find it difficult to accept that there were other or better ways of doing things than they had been done over decades," he said.

PAROLE AUTHORITY RESPONDS TO REPORT

In its response today the board backed suggestions of a focus on public safety, but appeared to blamed a lack of resources for some of the problems.

"The board endorses the comments by Mr Callinan AC that it has been under resourced. It also supports his emphasis on public safety," the statement says.

"The board looks forward to working with the State Government to implement changes to the parole system following the Callinan Report."

The statement also points to changes that have already been made to tighten parole conditions in Victoria.

"Under these reforms, sex offenders and serious violent offenders on parole convicted of further similar offences automatically have their parole cancelled. There is a presumption that parole will be cancelled in a series of other circumstances," it says.

"Changes have also been made to strengthen the supervision of sex offenders and serious violent offenders on parole.

"The Board now stands ready to assist the Government with further improvements to the parole system."

Herald Sun covers

Under Mr Callinan's proposed changes, offenders who have committed intentional crimes of violence which could result in personal injury requiring treatment, or serious sexual crimes, will be find it harder to get parole than other prisoners.

Their applications for parole would be considered by a panel headed by a judge or a retired judge of the County or Supreme Courts which must also contain a psychiatrist and a community member.

Only if this panel is unanimous will the prisoner be considered for parole.

But before the prisoner can be released Mr Callinan recommends that the decision to free the criminal will need to be confirmed by a review panel which can refuse or vary the order.

These offenders will only be granted parole if they can satisfy the parole board that "taking as paramount the safety and protection of the community, to a very high degree of probability that the risk of offending is negligible''.

Mr Callinan has called for offenders who burgle homes to be added to this category of serious criminal because the law "has always regarded'' these offences "as having a special tendency to violence by reason of the alarmed response to an intruder by a householder".

The Herald Sun understands prisoners who breach their parole and are sent back to prison will have to serve at least half of the sentence that was remaining at the time of their release.

Mr Callinan also called for a complete shake-up of appointments to the Adult Parole Board, which could see just two current members still on the board at the end of next year.

Each board member would sit for a maximum term of six, or nine years at most.

The report is being reviewed by the Government and it is understood it will be made available for public consultation.

Callinan's recommendations for the Adult Parole Board