Thursday, 2 November 2023

Adjournment

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (17:24): I move:

That the house do now adjourn.

Youth justice system

Matthew BACH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:24): (570) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Youth Justice, and the action that I seek is for him to consider banning the use of arbitrary solitary confinement here in Victoria. Every three months we get new data from the minister’s department that demonstrates that upon thousands and thousands of occasions some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in the state have been locked in their rooms. I accept that sometimes – especially at the moment in Victoria – safety issues occur, really serious safety issues, that may require a short lockdown. However, we know from the fulsome data that the minister’s department provides to us that on thousands of occasions every quarter young people in our youth justice system are locked down arbitrarily, not because there is any safety concern but because of staffing issues.

We know there are longstanding staffing issues. We know there have been changes to staff ratios to make those ratios more restrictive – in my view far too restrictive – over recent years. I care deeply for the staff in our youth justice system, and I commend the minister for his statement earlier today regarding the huge contribution that they make. In truth I care far more for the rehabilitation of the young people who find themselves in youth justice. I also note the minister’s comments that both now and historically Victoria has had very low numbers compared with other jurisdictions of young people in youth justice. That is a great thing; that is an excellent thing. But for those young people who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in the youth justice system, in my view it is unacceptable that so often – thousands and thousands of times every quarter – that small cohort of young people are arbitrarily locked in solitary confinement.

As you know, many experts in international law define ‘solitary confinement’ as torture, and Mr Limbrick has been discussing torture in this place. There is a reason why we have seen so many assaults, so much violence, in our youth justice system over recent years. One element is of course that if you have a mental health problem, as almost all the young people do in our youth justice system, and if you have experienced dreadful trauma, as almost all of these young people have, if you are then locked in your room for no apparent reason for on occasions hours and hours on end, well, you would want to punch somebody in the face when you were let out of your room. Huge reforms have been made in Republican states in America, including to completely outlaw the use of solitary confinement. My view is that should be our aim, certainly regarding the use of arbitrary solitary confinement, and I would welcome the minister’s views regarding his consideration of that matter.