Jailed Jihadis, fiends may be eligible for dole payments
‘Unsentenced prisoners’ such as terrorists, sex offenders and violent criminals deemed too dangerous for release after their jail sentences end may be eligible to receive the dole while in detention.
VIC News
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Terror masterminds, notorious sex offenders and violent criminals to be held in secure accommodation after their prison terms have finished could receive the dole.
Under an expanded post-sentence detention scheme, violent criminals and terrorists the court deems too dangerous to be released will be held at a $21 million centre inside Barwon prison.
But as “unsentenced prisoners” those detained under the scheme are likely to be eligible for welfare payments.
Terrorists, who can be detained at the end of their sentence under a federal scheme, could also be eligible.
Notorious sex offenders detained indefinitely at Corella Place in Ararat have already been able to collect thousands in dole payments.
The government has opened the Piper Unit inside Barwon Prison to house violent prisoners and terrorists a court deems too dangerous to be released. Meals are provided and prisoners are not expected to pay bills.
It is still unoccupied but terror svengali Abdul Nacer Benbrika, whose term for plotting a terrorist act ends next year, is likely to be one of the first picked.
Other convicted terrorists whose sentences are to end in the next two years would also be candidates.
Post-sentence detention was a key part in the 2015 Harper Review of Serious Offenders, launched after serial sex offender Sean Price murdered Masa Vukotic.
Under the “non-punitive” scheme, prisoners can apply for supervised day release and receive education and vocational training.
As “unconvicted prisoners” they are also housed away from mainstream prisoners and can work in prison industries, but it is not mandatory.
The Department of Social Services, which administers Centrelink payments, confirmed a released prisoner, such as those under post-sentence orders, can claim the dole, “subject to meeting eligibility requirements”.
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A Corrections Victoria spokeswoman said: “Detention order offenders are managed under the Corrections Act 1986 in accordance with their status as unsentenced prisoners.”
Corrections insiders say Benbrika, who led a group that discussed blowing up the MCG and Crown casino, still holds an extremist ideology and could be a risk if released.
His maximum 15-year term over a plot to launch a terrorist attack ends next year.