Youth justice system
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:24): (740) My question is for the Minister for Youth Justice. Minister, twice this week young offenders in the Parkville detention centre have assaulted staff, gained access to secure areas and used a CO2 fire extinguisher to threaten others. Under your leadership as minister, staff in Victoria’s youth detention centres are less safe at work. As a result, many experienced staff have resigned and entry-level staff are not coping with the increased pressure, with many leaving after a short period of working. I therefore ask, Minister: what action is the government taking to ensure staff are safe at work in Victoria’s youth detention centres?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:24): I thank Mr Davis for his question. I must from the outset reject the premise of Mr Davis’s question. There are quite a number of inaccuracies there. But what I will say is that I might take this opportunity to acknowledge our hardworking, dedicated staff in our youth justice system. They are very, very hardworking and very committed. It is one of the privileges of this role to go out to our custodial facilities and our youth justice facilities and meet the dedicated staff on the front line making a difference.
In relation to staff safety, every Victorian worker deserves to feel safe. No government in the history of this state has done more, whether it be manslaughter laws, wage theft laws or, specific to youth justice, laws regarding emergency services workers and people in our youth justice system. Any assault on staff is unacceptable, and where incidents take place they are appropriately referred to Victoria Police. I can say that we have a zero-tolerance approach to these kinds of incidents. You know, Mr Davis, that I cannot get into individual incidents, because they involve young people and staff. Many of them, as I have said, are referred to Victoria Police, and we do not want to prejudice that process. Those investigations need to take place without political interference. But we will continue to support our staff.
You asked a question about what we are doing. We have a number of initiatives in place at Cherry Creek and at Parkville: individual counselling is available to staff, psychological support, peer support programs, health and safety training and reporting systems. We work collaboratively with all partners across government to ensure we have the safest possible workplaces. We work collaboratively with the industrial representatives, the union. We work collaboratively with WorkSafe. We work collaboratively with the Ombudsman. We want to make our system as safe as possible for everyone in our system. That means for the staff; it also means for the young people in custody. It means the community is kept safer. We will continue to do the work, and we have invested more than any government has previously.
David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:26): I think the minister is in denial. I therefore ask: Minister, young people continue to gain access to secure areas at Parkville and Cherry Creek. They overpower staff and steal access cards, putting the entire system at risk of further riots or, as we have seen in the past, revenge attacks between gangs, like the one that left a young person with life-changing injuries. Minister, I ask: why has your department denied that the serious allegations took place, and will it take a young person or staff member dying before you act and put in place security measures that guarantee the protection of hardworking staff and ensure the delivery of your duty of care to youths in detention as well?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:27): I thank Mr Davis for his supplementary question. I will not get into specifics, but what I will say is that recent incidents have been resolved safely and there have been no physical injuries to anybody. Nonetheless, understand that the majority of young people that come in contact with the criminal justice system are diverted away successfully – 95 per cent. You can look at all the statistics you like. We do a good job in Victoria of early intervention and diversion. As minister I do not decide who enters into our custodial facilities or for how long they are with us, but when they come into our custody we try addressing their behavioural issues. We make investments in addressing the underlying behaviour, which will mean we are all safer in the long term. That means the staff are safer, that means the community is safer and that means they and their families are safer, but of course it is a complex environment. We do not shy away from that. We stand together and work closely with our staff, and through our investments in infrastructure and through better training we will continue to support the staff to make sure the system is as safe as possible. We will continue to do that work whilst you keep talking down the system. The system is in a much better place than what it was when you were last in government.