The Andrews government should use the inquiry into Victoria’s criminal justice system as the catalyst to finally end mass imprisonment, the Human Rights Law Centre will argue in its evidence to the inquiry. 

Victoria’s prison population has increased by almost 60 per cent over the last decade, with an almost threefold increase in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people behind bars, skyrocketing numbers of unsentenced women in prison and an increase in the number of children in youth prisons. 

This alarming growth follows years of ‘tough on crime’ politics during a time in which crime rates have remained relatively flat.   

Human Rights Law Centre Senior Lawyer Monique Hurley, who will give evidence to the inquiry today, said: 

“Victoria is in the midst of a mass imprisonment crisis. Years of ‘tough on crime’ politics have got us to a point that we now have a criminal legal system that turbo-charges injustice. 

“Victorian prisons are increasingly being used as a catchall to all social problems, serving as warehouses that we pipeline people in and out of – people experiencing poverty, family violence, housing instability, mental health conditions and addiction issues.  

“This inquiry should be seen by the Andrews government as an opportunity to reimagine our legal system and make brave decisions to create a fairer legal system for everyone.” 

The Human Rights Law Centre will make a number of recommendations including that the Andrews government: 

• Stop building more prisons and halt the construction of the proposed 106 bed expansion of the Dame Phyllis Frost women’s prison; 

• Fix Victoria’s broken bail laws in order to reduce the number of people being funnelled in and out of prison, particularly marginalised women; and 

• Raise the age of criminal responsibility from ten to at least 14 years old, to stop children ending up on a conveyor belt into adult prisons. 

“Prisons do not rehabilitate or remedy disadvantage, they compound and exacerbate it. We need to stop building more prisons and invest in services and programs that divert people away from the legal system and address the underlying causes of people’s offending,” Hurley said. 

“We need to fix Victoria’s broken bail laws that have contributed to escalating imprisonment rates and impacted women experiencing poverty and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women the most. 

“Children belong in schools, playgrounds and with their families, not in prisons. We need to follow the lead of the ACT and raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from ten to at least 14 years old.” 

Read the Human Rights Law Centre’s submission to the inquiry into Victoria’s criminal justice system here.

Media contact:

Michelle Bennett, Engagement Director, 0419 100 519, michelle.bennett@hrlc.org.au