Reforms limiting the right of people in Victorian prisons to access the open air have passed with bipartisan support, despite the state government admitting they are in breach of its charter of human rights.
Prison management can now limit incarcerated people’s access to time in the open air for a number of reasons, such as the management, good order or security of the prison.
Previously this right could only be limited due to the weather.
Legislation was introduced to Parliament by the Victorian government in response to a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that found that many cell yards and exercise areas in some high-security and management units in the state’s prisons were not providing adequate open air.
The changes to open air access will apply to all prisons in the state, not just these units.
The legislation was supported by the Labor government and the Opposition, and opposed by the Greens and some members of the Crossbench.
The Labor government earlier admitted that the reforms were in breach of the state’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities because they were incompatible with the right to protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and the right to humane treatment when deprived of liberty.
The government moved to permanently exclude the legislation from the charter.
Before the bill was passed, Victoria’s representative body for First Peoples, Gellung Warl, used its new powers under the Statewide Treaty Act to call on the government to withdraw the legislation, saying it was “not in the spirit of Treaty”.
Assembly Co-Chair Djaran Murray-Jackson spoke at a protest against the reforms in front of Parliament earlier this month.
“I’ve been there, I’ve been incarcerated,” Murray-Jackson said.
“I know how much they look forward to that one hour of yard time a day. A place where they can go, they can get some fresh air, see the sky, get some sunlight, and get some exercise before they return to those four walls.”
The open air bill was passed with an amendment requiring it be reviewed within three years.
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) criticised the government for ploughing ahead and passing the legislation.
“We know this will disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are overrepresented in the prison system,” VALS said.
“We have heard about the harm these measures have already had. A breach of human rights and denial of the government’s Treaty obligations. Shame on the Labor government.”
