‘Incredibly opaque and insular’: Victoria’s parole system in the spotlight

A coroner has been urged to make a number of recommendations to reform Victoria's parole system, including to make it subject to the human rights charter.

Victoria’s “incredibly opaque and insular” parole system has come under the spotlight in the ongoing coronial inquest into the death in custody of First Nations woman Heather Calgaret, with experts questioning the exemption from natural justice and the state’s Charter of Human Rights.

Calgaret had been eligible for parole for nearly a year when she died in custody at Sunshine Hospital in late 2021, after being found in a critical condition at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.

Despite being eligible for nearly a year, Calgaret was only denied parole a month before her death, because she did not have eligible suitable accommodation in the community.

The coronial inquest into her death focused on Victoria’s parole system and the denial of Calgaret’s parole on Tuesday last week, with a number of experts criticising a lack of transparency, significant delays, lack of consultation with individuals and racism in the system.

Three witnesses appeared before the inquest to discuss parole: University of Melbourne associate professor of history, law and justice Dr Crystal McKinnon, associate professor in criminology and criminal law Dr Amanda Porter and Flat Out executive officer Karen Fletcher.

In a joint statement, the three experts said Calgaret’s parole application was “mismanaged”, and she was not provided timely access to the necessary programs to be eligible for parole, was not given the chance to actively engage in her own parole application and was not provided assistance in finding adequate housing in the community.

They said the circumstances of Calgaret’s death in custody highlights “significant opportunities to improve the Victorian parole system”.

“The Victorian parole system is incredibly opaque and insular, especially in contrast to the system in New South Wales,” Porter said.

“There is no oversight of the parole system at all currently.”

“It is an opaque system with hidden hurdles and hidden barriers,” McKinnon added.

Victoria’s parole boards are exempt from the state’s Charter of Human Rights and from following the rules of natural justice.

McKinnon labelled this exemption a “travesty” and urged the coroner to recommend it be removed.

“The removal of this exemption would hold the Board to the same level of accountability as other Victorian bodies,” McKinnon told the inquest.

“It’s similar to the racial discrimination exemptions in the Northern Territory. It suggests people and systems wanting to act in racist ways, and wanting to contravene someone’s human rights.

“In our opinion, parole officers need to ensure they are seeing the people assigned to them in a timely fashion in order for them to meet the requirements for parole. They hold the liberty of people they are seeing in their hands.

Calgaret was given a prison sentence with a period when she would be eligible for parole, which was determined by a judge informed by a sentencing conversation in Victoria’s Koori Court, involving two elders and a judge.

The sentencing judge considered the impact of separating Calgaret from her children, and found she had good prospects of reuniting with them.

These factors were not included in her parole documents and were not considered in the decision to deny Calgaret parole.

“Decisions were made without her consultation, and not even being communicated to her,” McKinnon said.

The inquest has also shone a spotlight on the difficulties in securing parole when an individual does not have accommodation in the community that is deemed to be eligible.

This is often a catch-22, with those in prison finding it extremely difficult to secure housing before they are granted parole.

“You need a decision on parole and a parole date for the Office of Housing to put you on the list for housing, but you can’t get parole without housing,” Fletcher said.