Justice Legislation Amendment (Parole Reform and Other Matters) Bill 2016 [VIC]

On 8 December 2016, the Victorian Legislative Council passed the Justice Legislation Amendment (Parole Reform and Other Matters) Bill 2016 (the Bill) which aims to amend the Corrections Act 1986 (VIC) to provide for a presumption against parole for prisoners serving terms of imprisonment for certain fatal offences where the victim is a police officer or where the body or remains of the victim have not been located and to amend the Sentencing Act 1991 (VIC) to permit a court to take such factors into account in such circumstances and for other purposes.

Provisions Contained in the Bill

As stated in the Second Reading Speech, the Bill has two specific aims:

• parole reforms for offenders who murder police officers; and
• parole and sentencing reforms for offenders in 'no body' cases.

Parole Reforms for Murder of Police Officers

Part 2 of the bill will amend the Corrections Act 1986 (VIC) to insert new section 74AAA to ensure that prisoners who have been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment with a non-parole period for murdering a police officer is not granted parole.

Despite the Government stating that this is a measure that clearly applies to all offenders eligible for parole, it is specifically aimed to address the case of Craig Minogue, one of three men who carried out the Russell Street bombings in 1986 that killed 21-year-old Constable Angela Taylor and injured 22 people, as stated by the ABC News. After serving 30 years in prison, Minogue will be eligible for parole in January 2017, but the State Government is trying to prevent him from being released through the amendments in this Bill.

Adjunct Professor at RMIT University, Peter Norden, who worked previously as a prison chaplain and has met Minogue, said the move was mostly symbolic:

There are three people serving time for killing police officers, according to Corrections Victoria.

Parole and Sentencing Reforms for "No Body" Cases

According to the Second Reading Speech, Part 3 of the Bill contains the final purpose of the Bill, which is to ensure persons who have been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment with a non-parole period for certain fatal offences are not granted parole if they do not satisfactorily cooperate with police in the investigation of the offence to identify the location, or last known location, of the body or remains of victims of the offence and the place where the body or remains of the victim of the offence may be found. 

Division 1 of part 3 of the Bill will amend the Corrections Act to introduce a new presumption against parole, in new section 74AABA, unless the adult parole board is satisfied that the prisoner satisfactorily cooperated with police in these 'no body' cases.  Division 2 of part 3 of the Bill will amend section 5 of the Sentencing Act to expressly allow the courts to take into account whether or not an offender has cooperated in the investigation of the offence in 'no body' cases when determining an appropriate sentence for the offending. The sentencing reforms in the Bill will apply to the sentencing of an offender irrespective of when the offence was committed or the finding of guilt was made. By assenting this bill, Victoria will join WA, SA and NT in passing similar "no body" provisions in the last year.

The two parole reforms in the bill will also apply when the adult parole board is deciding whether or not to re-release a prisoner on to parole and will apply to current and future parole applications.

The Bill is now awaiting assent.

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Justice Legislation Amendment (Parole Reform and Other Matters) Bill 2016 [VIC] and Secondary materials as reproduced on TimeBase LawOne

ABC News Article