Page 4575 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 26 November 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (3.00): The Canberra Liberals will be supporting this bill. The bill introduces the concept of parole time credit into the ACT. It is a move that is consistent with other states across Australia and other countries. Parole time credit acknowledges the effort that an offender makes, such as actively engaging in work or rehabilitation, even if they were ultimately unsuccessful in completing their sentence while on parole. Many offenders in Canberra have setbacks during their parole, often due to relapse into drug use. In the event of such a parole breach, parole time credit recognises imperfect progress, rather than promoting the all or nothing model of parole that currently exists in the ACT.
On behalf of Mrs Jones, I would like to say that she is pleased to see that exceptions are being made to parole time credit and that that is the way that they will be applied. But she and the Canberra Liberals will keep a close eye on how this new parole time credit system and its expectations work over the coming years. My understanding is that an amendment is going to be moved by the minister, relating to a sunset clause. The opposition will be supporting the amendment.
As I said before, it is consistent that we welcome reforms that seemingly improve our justice system, but we will keep an eye on the way this rolls out on the ground. The opposition will support this legislation.
MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts, Creative Industries and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (3.02): I am pleased to rise to speak in support of this bill. Parole plays an important part in our criminal justice system. It has two main purposes. One is to provide support for parolees on their return to the community; the other is to monitor the behaviour of the parolee in order to ensure, as far as possible, that there will be no reoffending.
We know that serving a period of parole can be difficult. It is a period in which the parolee is often trying to re-establish connections that have been broken during a period of incarceration, however short or long that may have been. We know that the road to rehabilitation can be hard. Through the introduction of a parole time credit scheme in the ACT, we want to provide support and recognition to those that can achieve substantial periods of successful, crime-free living in our communities on their way to rehabilitation. Whilst on parole, a parolee is supported to access appropriate services, including education, employment, housing and drug and alcohol treatment. Research has found strong evidence that offenders released from prison on parole are less likely to reoffend than offenders released from prison without any supervision.
We know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners are less likely to apply for, and less likely to be granted, parole than non-Indigenous prisoners. Despite being eligible for parole, some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners serve their entire sentence in prison before being released into the community without any supervision. To address this imbalance, one of the recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission in 2017 was to abolish parole revocation schemes that require time spent on parole to be served again in prison if parole is revoked. That is what a parole time credit scheme does.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video