Prisons

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:29): Supplementary: can the minister rule out high-risk prisoners being housed for any length of time in medium-security prisons?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:30): I am not entirely sure I understand the context of the Hon. Ms Lensink's question. If someone is deemed to be high security, then naturally they are sought to be housed in high-security facilities and then, over time, their security rating can change.

Let's take, for instance, an offence that most people quite reasonably would associate with having a high-security rating. For instance, let's take a person who might have been convicted of murder who might initially have a high-security rating. It is not necessarily so that that person will have a high-security rating throughout their period in custody. They might demonstrate behaviours or might be in a plan that sees their security rating reduced, particularly as they get closer to their time of release, for instance.

To say, 'Are there people who have a high-security rating in medium-security facilities?', that may be the case as a consequence of someone's security rating changing during their period in custody because of changing circumstances. Like I said, there are other variables: their behaviour, how long their sentence is, how close they are to release, participation in programs and so forth.