Reforms would prohibit Youth Parole Board from considering the views of victims of crime

The Allan government’s controversial Youth Justice Bill is set to explicitly ban victims and their families from having a say over whether young offenders are released on parole.

Victims of youth crime would be explicitly banned from having a say over whether young offenders including murderers and rapists are released on parole under reforms to the youth justice system.

The Allan government’s controversial Youth Justice Bill – which has already passed the lower house and will be ­debated in the upper house on Tuesday – would prohibit the Youth Parole Board from considering the views of victims of crime when deciding whether to grant early release to young offenders as old as 20.

The proposal comes less than six months after a report by former Victims of Crime Commissioner Fiona McCormack made 55 recommendations including greater rights for victims she said were further harmed by the system.

Beaumaris mum-of-four Geraldine, who is still reeling from a nightmare break in earlier this year, said banning victims of youth crime from having a say in the decision to grant parole was “a slap in the face”.

In June, Geraldine and her husband woke to a group of youth offenders armed with knives breaking into their Bayside home before taking off in two of their cars.

“Reading the news this morning was very triggering,” she said.

“It’s a real slap in the face to us.”

The Youth Parole Board, which makes decisions about the granting of parole, its variation or cancellation, and transfers between jurisdictions, paroled 70 offenders in 2022-23, according to its latest annual report.

The Allan government’s controversial Youth Justice Bill has already passed the lower house. Picture: David Crosling

It also cancelled the parole of 30 youths who failed to comply with the conditions of their early release.

Under the proposed legislation, the board would be free to consider the views of victims on the conditions of offenders’ parole.

Cabinet met on Monday to sign off on amendments to the government’s original 942-page Bill amid increasing community pressure to wind back plans for a broad overhaul of the youth justice system including lifting the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 and then to 14 by 2027.

Former premier Daniel Andrews made the commitment provided an appropriate alternative model was in place to replace the current system.

Former Victims of Crime Commissioner Fiona McCormack made 55 recommendations including greater rights for victims. Picture: 7News

However, senior Labor figures have lobbied against the drastic step of raising the age to 14 in light of the youth crime wave in which the number of crimes involving children as young as 10 have reached their highest levels since 2010.

While the proposed legislation would raise the age to 12, it makes no mention of going further, and government sources say that seems increasingly unlikely.

Victims rights expert Tyrone Kirchengast, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, said the government’s plans to legislate against taking victims’ views into account was a controversial step.

“This will be controversial and it may be upsetting for victims,” he said.

“However, when it comes to younger people they do often depart from standards that exist in an adult context.”

Flinders University lecturer Katherine McLachlan, a member of an adult parole board in South Australia, said the provision was unnecessary.

“Members of the Youth Parole Board have been selected for their expertise and, as such, they are able to determine how to use information from victims of crime,” she said.

“If victims want to tell the parole board they never want the applicant to be released on parole, they should be able to.

“Parole board members know the limits of their powers and the importance of evidence-informed decision-making.

“It certainly sits outside the power of the parole board to detain a young person indefinitely on the wishes of a victim of crime, but (this clause) is not necessary to ensure this is the case.”

Opposition spokesman for youth justice Brad Battin said the justice system must prioritise victims ahead of criminals.

“The Allan Labor government’s move to reduce their voice in the process is an insult to the many victims of the crime crisis in Victoria,” he said.

“This highlights the priorities of Labor in Victoria, and it is a sad day when they put the rights of the offender ahead of that of victims.”

The Opposition is firmly against raising the age of criminal responsibility, however, the government is understood to have the support of enough crossbench MPs to push the reform through the upper house.

A government spokeswoman said the Bill would give victims a greater voice than currently legislated, enabling them to provide information to the Youth Parole Board.

She said youth parole decision-making started from the premise that young people should be considered eligible for parole at the relevant time.

“The views of victims of crime will continue to inform parole decisions for young people and the new Youth Justice Victims Register will give them more of a voice throughout the process,” she said. “Any suggestion that the view of victims will be prohibited from being taken into account in assessing parole is wrong.”

The comments came despite legislation stipulating: “If the Youth Parole Board receives information from a person on the Youth Justice Victims register, the Youth Parole Board must not have regard to that information when determining whether … to grant parole to a child or young person.”