I too rise to speak on the Corrections Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. Before my contribution, I do want to say a very big thankyou and give a very big shout-out to corrections staff. It is not an easy job, and I do not think it takes anyone to have worked there to know that it is not an easy job to do. Thinking about corrections staff, it is interesting because I know that one of the best friends of my sister-in-law up in Sydney is actually a staff member at one of the women’s prisons in Sydney. She is a particularly tough lady but very fair. She has a beautiful nature. I know that she absolutely loves her job.

Turning back to the bill, the bill does aim to build upon our government’s efforts to ensure our communities are, importantly, safe and that our prisons are safe, with a focus on greater protections for custodial officers and improved management of serious offenders once their sentences are finished. It should be clear that our government is absolutely committed to ensuring not only that our corrections system is operating effectively but also that the folks who work in our prisons, keeping our community and inmates safe, are also safe at work. We on this side of the house know that everyone deserves to be safe at work and return safely home to the people that they love each and every single day.

I note that last month’s state budget invested an additional $727 million into boosting the capacity of Victoria’s prison system. As the chair of the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee, I heard about that $727 million in detail during the budget estimates hearings over the past couple of weeks. That $727 million includes hiring additional staff and bringing more prison beds on line. We know that we need this extra capacity. We need it because we can already see that our new bail laws are starting to have an effect. Last month there were 465 more people on remand in Victorian prisons compared to April last year, which is an increase of 22 per cent. Also, there were 39 more young people on remand in youth justice compared to April last year, which is an increase of 71 per cent. That is a remarkable jump. Whilst these numbers are not inherently fabulous – nearly 500 people, too many – what they do is they tell us that these changes are working and that more offenders are not being bailed. That is thanks to a successful recruitment drive. I love hearing the Minister for Police and the Minister for Corrections talk about recruitment drives for police here in Victoria and the different methods and things that they are doing to recruit more police officers and also to recruit more prison officers. We have been able to bring on an additional 640 prison officers and more than 170 youth justice officers in just the past year. It should be clear that we do not want to go back to a corrections system and a remand system where folks languish on remand for months for a simple case of shoplifting. That is not what we on this side of the chamber want to see.

Our system should not be about repeating the mistakes that led to the tragic death of Veronica Nelson. But we must be very clear that our corrections system exists for a reason, and that is to protect our community from violent offenders. It is about protection, it is about deterrence and, most importantly – and I think our community gets this – it is about rehabilitation. If you ever go ahead and speak to a victim of crime, yes, they want that perpetrator of the crime to be punished, but actually most of all they wish that it had not happened in the first place. That is why rehabilitation and prevention and diversion away from criminal activity are just so very important, and that is why there are substantial increases in investment into those particular services and organisations that are doing that very important work.

I note just last week my community in Brimbank held a community police forum, which my great friend and colleague the amazing member for St Albans, who is here at the table today, attended. I heard that it was a great conversation, with a lot of questions raised, and the police were able to provide a lot of information and reassurance for the local community. We also had, surprisingly – I think it was the first time they had turned up – the local Liberals in attendance as well as the member for Caulfield, who from what I have heard might have been a bit embarrassed when a particular local Liberal volunteer started promoting the adult crime, adult time policy that the Crisafulli LNP government in Queensland have adopted. I certainly hope, after the member for Caulfield appeared so embarrassed by that, that those opposite do not adopt this as their policy going into the next election. Our local police –

Members interjecting

No, get this, you will like this bit. You will like this, because it sparked some interest from those opposite in talking about how potentially that could be their policy. The local police in Brimbank completely shot down that idea. Do you know what else? They said it would not work.

There is more reform to come for our corrections system than just bail reform. This portfolio is also about the ongoing management of offenders when they enter the prison system and, more importantly, when they eventually leave the prison system. That is what this bill is all about. One of the biggest changes in this bill is an increase in penalties for inmates who assault custodial officers – and so there should be. Currently there is a presumption in the Sentencing Act 1991 that requires sentences for prison offences to be served cumulatively. What that means is that offenders will spend more time for crimes committed in custody. However, we are not always seeing this, and it is clear that the legislation requires greater clarity on this point so that we do not have offenders not serving that additional time.

This is not just about punishing criminal behaviour. Folks who work in our prisons deserve to be safe at work, just like any other worker, and these incidents are often, sadly and tragically, quite significant. They cause ongoing health impacts and trauma and often require specialised support and treatment. Like I said at the outset of my contribution today, this is not an easy job; it is a tough job, and I do not think you have to work in it to know it is a tough job. For those that work in it, they live and breathe it and they know it is tough, but I would also say they know it is rewarding work. If we want to hire more staff to work in our prisons, which we need to do, they need to know that if their safety is put at risk – and it is a risk to work with violent offenders – there are punishments and there are deterrents in place so that their safety is not compromised. This is really important, and this is what this bill does so well. The bill is going to remove the ambiguity and it is going to clarify that offences that cause injury to custodial officers are prison offences, which in turn ensures that those sentences are cumulative. The message we are sending to inmates is absolutely crystal clear: if you commit a crime, you will – make no mistake – serve more time.

Of course the bill does more than just this. It is also going to implement recommendations made by a statutory review of the Serious Offenders Act 2018. This legislation is the major framework for the post-sentence management of serious offenders, and we are talking here about not just your normal offender. These are violent, serious offenders and they are sex offenders who continue to pose an unacceptable risk of reoffending, but their sentences have expired. As part of the act there is also a statutory requirement to review the post-sentencing scheme to ensure that it remains effective. The previous review was completed in 2023 and it made 13 recommendations, and this bill before us today delivers on those that require legislative action. This includes changes like clarifying what actions police can take should they arrest a person who is suspected of having broken a condition of their supervision order, as well as things like information sharing and ensuring that the Post Sentence Authority importantly has Indigenous representation to address the needs of our First Nations Victorians who may fall within the scheme.

The bill makes a number of small but really important changes to ensure that our corrections system is operating efficiently and effectively. We have committed to expanding our prison capacity and hiring more prison staff. These changes in this bill today should give them the confidence they need that if they want to work in our prisons we will prioritise their safety at work. That is why I wholeheartedly commend this really fantastic bill to the house today.