Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (10:15): Pursuant to standing order 23.29, I lay on the table a report from the Legal and Social Issues Committee on the inquiry into children affected by parental incarceration, including appendices. I further present transcripts of evidence, and I move:
That the transcripts of evidence lie on the table and the report be published.
Motion agreed to.
Ms PATTEN: I move:
That the Council take note of the report.
This is a really important report and it is a report that just fills me with the sense of privilege that we have in this place. Before I speak to the report, I would really just like to note that a number of the very important people that were part of creating this report are here in our chamber today. These are people who have had lived experience of incarcerated parents, and I would like to welcome to the chamber Holly Nicholls, Rachael Hambleton and Clarisa Allen, and also Glen Fairweather, who is the general manager of the Prison Fellowship. They really helped make this report the report that it is today.
I would also, before I forget, like to thank all of the staff that worked on this report. This report is a really special report, so I am really grateful for the work and dedication of the team and that was Lilian Topic, Meagan Murphy, Kieran Crow, Joel Hallinan, Jessica Wescott and Cat Smith. I just thank them so much for this report, because this report looks at a hidden group of children. No-one has line of sight on these children. These are the children of parents who have been incarcerated. Right now there are about 7000 children whose parents are in prison in Victoria. No department, as we found in this report, has line of sight on them, has any care for them, whether that is when the police arrest their parents, whether that is when their parents go before the courts or whether that is when their parents are then in the corrections system. No-one is seeing these children. Well, we saw them and we heard from them, and it was, I would have to say, an absolute eye-opener. We must protect these children. We are signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and these children are protected under that convention, yet we have not done enough. We know that when their parents are incarcerated they can experience disruption to schools, isolation, stigma, the effects of a reduced family income and housing insecurity, and sadly many may be incarcerated themselves. Now, that is not a given, but we heard from some of those children who are adults now that that fear constantly lives with them.
I would have to say that what I am particularly ashamed about is the number of Aboriginal children that are taken into care as a result of their parents being incarcerated. In fact Aboriginal children are losing their parents at a greater rate than they were last century when we were removing them from their families. This is of immense concern to me, and it should be of immense concern to all of us. But there are things that we can do, and I think this report shines a light on that. We make nearly 30 recommendations. Certainly, look, if we wanted to fix this problem, let us fix inequality and disadvantage in our society. Obviously that is something that we at the Legal and Social Issues Committee have heard time and time again, whether that was spent convictions or whether that was the justice inquiry—that those are the main causes of people entering into our corrections system and being incarcerated.
But I think we need to allow our courts to consider dependent children. We are locking Aboriginal women up at an alarming rate at the moment, and many of them, in fact most of them, have children. We are not locking them up because they are violent or a risk to society, we are locking them up for non-violent crimes generally related to disadvantage and poverty. I think we can rethink that, and I think we can do far better in that area. That would be around rethinking sentencing. Some of my committee members may not agree with me, but I also think it is about rethinking bail. It is about rethinking what we do with parents and also then rethinking how we maintain that connection—that family connection. We know that family connections are the biggest protector against crime. I urge all members to read this, and I want to say to the people in this chamber today: thank you. We see you, we hear you and we must act on this. This report will be your legacy.
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Report tabled 4/8/22
