Question without notice
September 9, 2021
My question is to the Minister for Workplace Safety, Ms (Ingrid) Stitt, and follows sickening assaults on youth justice workers recently.
Mark Buttler from the Herald Sun reported on August 8, 2021, that 22 staff were taken to hospital between July 2019 and July 2021. It was reported that there have been 20 incidents of workplace violence and aggression towards workers at Malmsbury and Parkville between January and July this year. Indeed, Community and Public Sector Union secretary Karen Batt is quoted in the same article saying:
Working in youth justice is becoming the most dangerous job in the land and no one seems to have a solution …
WorkSafe Victoria convened the Corrections and Youth Justice Taskforce in 2019, and I believe it undertook a number of inquiries focused on reducing incidents and improving safety. The Youth Justice Commissioner is visiting units, and there are reports of a management review attempting to achieve an operational reset.
Minister, isn’t it time for a formal review or investigation which results in findings and recommendations?
Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (11:27): I thank Ms Maxwell for her important question. Obviously I want to place on the record that violence in the workplace is never okay. Preventing and responding to work-related violence and aggression is a top priority for this government and, I know, for WorkSafe Victoria.
In relation to the matters that you asked about, I am advised that WorkSafe inspectors have continued to respond to health and safety concerns, including mental and physical injury health concerns at Victoria’s corrections and youth justice facilities. WorkSafe is continuing to work closely with the Community and Public Sector Union, importantly with health and safety representatives on the ground, and with the Department of Justice and Community Safety to identify and address occupational health and safety risks in all of those correctional facilities. WorkSafe’s interventions include workplace inspections to ensure compliance with OH&S duties and working with employers to improve health and safety.
As you have noted in your question, Ms Maxwell, WorkSafe has convened a task force to look at the safety systems and return to work outcomes in corrections and youth justice to reduce work-related violence in the sector. This is incredibly important work that the task force continues to undertake, and the regulators are engaging closely with stakeholders across the sector, including the CPSU.
I mean, the member would also be aware that the Minister for Youth Justice in the other place is the responsible minister for the justice precincts, so the member may wish to get some direct further information from the Minister for Youth Justice. We take these matters incredibly seriously and we will continue to work, as I am sure WorkSafe will, on trying to mitigate those risks in youth justice.
Ms MAXWELL (Northern Victoria) (11:29): Thank you, Minister Stitt, and I will take you up on that further information from the Corrections Minister.
Minister, further concerning workplace safety in our justice facilities are suggestions that 59 corrections officers were suspended in the last financial year, including for sexual harassment allegations, with seven officers sacked for misconduct. Minister, can you confirm how many reports of sexual harassment within corrections were made to WorkSafe under the mandatory incident notification scheme?
Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (11:30): I thank Ms Maxwell for her supplementary question.
I take the issue of sexual harassment and the treatment of workers in this area extremely seriously. I am advised by WorkSafe that they are aware of the allegations of sexual harassment involving corrections officers, although there have been no notifiable incidents from 1 July 2020 to date. That is largely because under the notifiable incident regime, workplace sexual harassment is not necessarily caught up under the current framework unless it is a fatality or the need for immediate medical treatment or hospitalisation is a feature of the incident.
It is important to note, though, that, as I announced on International Women’s Day this year, the government is developing a workplace sexual harassment reform agenda. We have established a ministerial task force on sexual harassment to provide advice on these important reforms, and it will specifically look at ways that we can strengthen the health and safety framework to better address sexual harassment, including notification.
