Criminal justice reform gathers dust in Victoria

With an election looming, the Victorian government will leave behind a number of criminal justice reform-focused bills and is unlikely to commit to any substantial change.

When the Victorian Parliament rises for the last time before the state election it will leave behind a number of substantial criminal justice reports and bills to gather dust.

Wednesday marks the last sitting day of Parliament before the state election in November.

Several bills will lapse upon the state election, and the Andrews government has not even responded to multiple reports offering a legislative path forward, despite being required to do so within six months.

The Victorian government has brushed aside debate on its own Children, Youth and Families Amendment (Child Protection) Bill, after the Greens moved an amendment to raise the age of criminal responsibility in the state.

The Andrews government responded by splitting the bill in two in order to pass some aspects of the reforms, but now both of these bills will lapse.

The Legal and Social Issues Committee’s report into Victoria’s criminal justice system will likely not receive a response from the state government before the November election.

This report offered a substantial reform agenda for the state government across the entire criminal justice system, including raising the age, reviewing controversial bail laws, improving healthcare in prisons and extending Medicare to prisoners.

The report also called for a review of the use of solitary confinement and strip searching in places of detention.

This report was tabled on 24 March this year, and the government is required to respond to it after six months. The deadline is this month, but the Victorian government has not offered a response to it.

Another report offering a path towards reforming the state’s criminalisation of cannabis has also been sitting with the government for more than a year, despite the requirement to respond within six months.

The report recommended the government investigate the impacts of legislating cannabis for adult personal use in Victoria.

An inquiry into children affected by parental incarceration also tabled its report at the start of July but will not receive a government response before the state election.

The final Parliamentary sitting day and the upcoming election makes it very unlikely that Victoria will be able to meet the deadline to implement its obligations under a United Nations treaty aimed at protecting the human rights of people in places of detention.

Victoria is required to have an independent inspections body operating by 20 January next year in order to comply with the treaty, and this will require the passing of legislation facilitating this and ongoing funding.

With the state election on 26 November, it’s increasingly unlikely that this will be possible before the January deadline.

On its second last sitting day before the election, the Parliament did pass legislation facilitating an upcoming visit by the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, allowing it access to facilities and documents.