Strained prisons told to prepare for flood of inmates ahead of new bail laws
Victorian jails have been ordered to get ready for an influx of prisoners, which they say could push the system to breaking point as the Allan government hopes to push tough new bail laws through parliament next week.
Police & Courts
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Victorian prisons have been ordered to immediately prepare for an influx of inmates with the Allan government hoping to push tough new bail laws through parliament next week.
But there are concerns resourcing and capacity issues will leave prisons unable to cope with an expected increase in demand.
Corrections staff are bracing for a 20 per cent boost in prisoner numbers which they say could push the system to breaking point.
Leaked internal working documents have revealed three of the state’s four remand prisoners are near capacity with one, the Metropolitan Remand Centre, facing critical staff shortages.
It was one of several prisons forced into lockdown in recent weeks because of staff shortages despite the system running at about 75 per cent capacity.
Sources told the Herald Sun that the operating budget for the Cherry Creek Youth Justice Centre would need to be doubled to increase its capacity for the changes.
The facility has 140 rooms, but according to the latest departmental annual report only 56 beds were operational.
Safety considerations and the need to hold remand prisoners close to courts and legal services also strained resources, sources said.
A $5000 sign-up bonus introduced in September 2023 was recently increased to $8000 in a bid to attract employees to join the struggling prison workforce.
A government spokesperson said 179 payments were made in the 18 months since the incentive was introduced with another 318 payments expected to be made by June 30.
In recent days prison bosses were informed bail changes would be fast tracked and were told to prepare to scale-up immediately.
Karen Batt said the government must commit new resources, including additional staff, to support the changes.
“All aspects of the criminal justice system, including Youth Justice, our Prisons, Courts, and programs that support the management of offenders like Community-based Correctional services, need boosting to manage the confirmed increase,” she said.
Jacinta Allan, unveiling the “toughest bail laws in Australia,” committed to resourcing the corrections system adequately to manage the expected increase in population.
And she warned the eyes of government would be on the state’s judiciary to ensure they were puttin community safety at the front of all decision making.
“This is absolutely my expectation. The courts are going to be given a very clear sense of the priorities of the community and the government,” she said.
“It is my expectation that we will see more people refused bail.”
But Matt Cronin – the father of 19-year-old Patrick Cronin who was killed in a coward punch attack in 2016 – said he had no confidence in that happening.
Patrick’s killer Andrew Lee was jailed for a minimum five-year term despite legislation mandating 10-year minimums for coward punch deaths.
Mr Cronin had expected Lee, who was bailed after the fatal attack, to be prosecuted under the laws and prosecutors had filed a notice of intention to seek the tough mandatory term.
But they later withdrew the notice in a plea deal in exchange for Lee’s guilty plea to a charge of manslaughter.
“I’ve got no confidence whatsoever,” he said.
“If they’re going to toughen up the bail laws, fantastic, bring it. It’s high time. Sadly, I think the proof will be in the pudding.
“At the end of the day, the law just lets us down. They have to get the legislation right. Poor legislation will give us poor outcomes.”
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said she felt compelled to make big bail changes after meeting with a victim of crime.
“She looked at me and said, ‘The people who did this were out on bail. How did this happen?” she said.
The government is hoping to rush the laws through parliament next week but would likely need the support of the opposition.
Shadow Attorney-General Michael O’Brien stopped short of committing to fast-track the legislation but said he would move amendments to the laws he said didn’t go far enough.
Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said the changes would put the onus back on the courts to “act in the interests and preservation of community safety”.
“Once legislated, these changes will make a difference, one that will swing the pendulum back in the favour of good, innocent people and families who deserve protection and the right to safety in their homes, their cars and on their streets,” Mr Gatt said.
But legal, human rights and First Nations groups lashed the changes, warning they would disproportionately hurt marginalised communities.
Human Rights Law Centre First Nations justice director Maggie Munn said the changes were “some of the most dangerous, discriminatory and unjust bail laws in the country”.
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