Corrections system
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:29): (506) My question is to Minister Erdogan. Reports of extreme violence against staff in our prison system include a prisoner putting a female worker in a headlock, punching her in the head and breaking her nose; another female worker being bashed and needing hospitalisation; and other attacks causing serious injuries. Other incidents involve tipping faeces on officers’ hands. The government asserts they have a zero-tolerance approach to violence against staff, yet these attacks continue. Minister, what are you doing to address the increasing violence against staff within our prison system?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:30): I thank Mr Davis for his question and his interest in our corrections system. Let us be very clear, every worker in Victoria deserves to be and feel safe in their workplace, especially our hardworking corrections officers. I have said in this place many times I have had the privilege of meeting many of our officers. They work in a difficult and complex environment. It is inherently difficult and challenging with the people that are under their custody and care, and they do that work tirelessly to make sure that the community is kept safe but also so those people are given the opportunity to turn their lives around.
As a government, we have been very clear in our commitment to the safety of our frontline workers, whether it be emergency services workers or whether it be people in our corrections system. That is why we have introduced laws, so that when people do commit offences and assaults against staff they are brought to justice. Incidents such as these are referred to Victoria Police, and it is my expectation that those people are brought to justice and that they do face the full force of the law.
It would be inappropriate to go into individual incidents for a whole range of reasons, especially because there is privacy, and there are many incidents. Mr Davis, you have referred to some that are more recent and that are ongoing investigations, and some of them are in fact before the courts as we speak. I cannot get into individual incidents, but I do want to say that as the minister I am committed to seeing improvements to safety, and in the design of new facilities we have taken that into consideration.
There is an ongoing dialogue and discussion between the department and the union to make improvements. These are operational matters, and I will not be disclosing the details of them for a whole range of reasons. You can understand the security concerns around those. But the department and the union are working through them to make improvements across the board.
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:32): Indeed. Minister, I simply ask: how many times has WorkSafe been called into Victoria’s prison system in the last year?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:32): I thank Mr Davis. As minister, my expectation is that the department work closely with WorkSafe to make our facilities as safe as possible. I think there is a shared goal here between me, the department, the union and, I am sure, WorkSafe. We want these workplaces to be as safe as possible, understanding they are inherently risky environments and challenging environments. As a government, we have not just talked about this, we have made legislative changes to make improvements for frontline staff, but we have also invested in infrastructure and training for the staff so that they can make sure that these facilities are as safe as possible.