Wednesday, 15 May 2024

 Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (12:36): (531) My question today is for the Minister for Corrections. Last week a very frustrated and concerned constituent reached out to me regarding the safety of prison officers. She told me of the daily assaults, threats and harm they are facing. So can the minister please explain what the government is doing to protect those who work in the prison system from harm?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:36): I thank the member for their question and their interest in our corrections system. Let us be very clear: every worker in our state deserves to feel safe in their workplace, especially our hardworking corrections officers. I know firsthand as I have had the privilege of meeting many of them how hardworking they are and how dedicated they are to not only keeping us all safe but also giving the people under their custody and care the best opportunity to turn their lives around. As a government we are very clear that any of this type of violence is unacceptable, and that is why we make sure that corrections officers have the same level of protection as emergency services workers. As a government we have invested in new facilities, in new technologies and in training for staff to best protect our staff. But these are inherently difficult environments, and I know as part of the government and as the minister I look forward to continuing to see further improvements. We work with WorkSafe and other agencies to ensure we have the safest possible workplaces and will continue to make those investments.

 Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (12:37): I thank the minister for his answer. My constituent was most worried by the fact that it seems that OH&S requirements are failing to be adhered to, with prisoners being moved without precautions such as handcuffs, giving them the opportunity to assault officers. Can the minister explain why the corrections system is not adhering to the OH&S requirements and allowing staff to be in harm’s way?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:38): I thank Mrs Tyrrell for the question. I would reject the premise of not adhering to those OH&S guidelines in terms of the use of handcuffs. There are a range of placement tools as well that are used to transport prisoners. It is a question that I ask the department and those operating our prisons – the use of handcuffs, as an example – and they obviously make a risk assessment based on each individual prisoner about the use of such tools. But let us be very clear: if someone does assault a staff member, it is my expectation that they are brought to justice, matters are quickly referred to police and people are charged, and that is what I understand occurs if staff are assaulted. Even one assault is one too many, and I think as a government we have shown through our investments in the facilities and in the increased training that we need a balance for all the stakeholders in the system but we need to make it as safe as possible for our staff, because every worker deserves to feel safe in their workplace.