Victorian Govt criticised for delay in implementing sex offender reforms
ON THE second anniversary of the murder of teenager Masa Vukotic by sex offender Sean Price, Premier Daniel Andrews has been accused of dragging his feet in ushering in reforms.
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CHANGES to the way serious sexual offenders are managed are still waiting to be implemented almost a year after the state government pledged to overhaul the system, the state opposition has said.
On the second anniversary of the murder of teenager Masa Vukotic by evil killer and sex offender Sean Price, Premier Daniel Andrews has been accused of dragging his feet in ushering in the reforms.
The government commissioned the Harper Review to overhaul the system in 2015 and released its findings on April 24 last year but so far only a handful of the report’s recommendations have been implemented.
The following month the government passed a raft of changes to the Serious Sex Offenders Act, giving more powers to the Adult Parole Board and Victoria Police.
The review by retired Supreme Court justice David Harper was commissioned after Ms Vukotic, 17, was stabbed to death in a park in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs in March 2015.
Price was sentenced to life in prison, with the sentencing judge stating that a “catastrophic failure of the system” had led to Ms Vukotic’s death.
The Harper review made 35 recommendations in total.
Edward O’Donohue, the opposition’s corrections spokesman, said: “Following the tragic murder of Masa Vukotic, Daniel Andrews promised to not waste a day in reforming the justice system for violent and sex offenders.
“But four Corrections Ministers and two years later, most of the Harper Review
Recommendations remain unimplemented.
“Despite crime up over 20 per cent in the last two years, Daniel Andrews has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to community safety.”
But the government hit back at the opposition’s claims and said all of the recommendations will be complete by next year, with many online this year.
Corrections Minister Gayle Tierney said: “We took immediate action to respond to the Harper Review and to strengthen the post-sentence supervision and detention scheme in Victoria.
“These are complex and comprehensive reforms to the post-sentence scheme, which need to be implemented carefully and constructively and with community safety as the highest priority.”
So far four of the recommendations have been implemented.
Last month the government announced it will build a 20-bed secure facility to house Victoria’s most serious sex offenders and violent offenders, with Ararat the preferred location.
Other recommendations from the review include:
— A specialist response unit, with senior Corrections Victoria staff, Victoria Police detectives and intelligence analysts.
— Expanded accommodation for serious sex offenders, with a new facility within the Langi Kal Kal prison precinct.
— Changes to bail laws, so there is a presumption that offenders on the post-sentence scheme who are charged with an indictable offence won’t get bail.
— Expanding supervision orders for serious sex offenders to prohibit violent acts.