2016-03-24
MS PENNICUIK — To ask the Minister for Training and Skills (for the Attorney-General): Given the rise of women in Victorian prisons by 25 per cent in the past five years, and that many are in prison on short sentences which will mean the loss of any accommodation they may have, their children, and employment, and that many have backgrounds of family violence and sexual abuse as well as having a drug and/or alcohol addiction, what action is being undertaken to ensure magistrates and other judicial officers receive ongoing education about the particular context of female offending, including sentencing impacts on children.
ANSWER:
I am informed:
The Judicial College of Victoria (JCV) is the statutory body charged with the responsibility of providing education for judicial and quasi-judicial (tribunal) officers in Victoria. JCV ensures that these officers remain abreast of developments in the law, are able to respond to modern challenges of judging, and respond to the needs of Victoria's socially and culturally diverse community.
JCV conducts a range of programs designed to educate judicial officers about the issues that lead to, and surround, offending, including issues particular to female offending.
The JCV also produces a range of bench books for judicial officers, including the Sentencing Manual, which is available online at judicialcollegevic.edu.au. The Manual contains information on the relevance of gender to sentencing and when hardship is a relevant consideration in sentencing, and provides examples of circumstances where family hardship may be taken into account.
In relation to sentencing impacts on children, the Magistrates' Court is aware of the hardship that children experience from the incarceration of their parent. The Court has advised that matters pertaining to children which are raised in bail applications and pleas, are given appropriate weight by magistrates. Generally, arrangements are already in-place for the care of children by the time sole parents come before the Court.