<!--The Official Report of Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly of the Parliament of South Australia are covered by parliamentary privilege. Republication by others is not afforded the same protection and may result in exposure to legal liability if the material is defamatory. You may copy and make use of excerpts of proceedings where (1) you attribute the Parliament as the source, (2) you assume the risk of liability if the manner of your use is defamatory, (3) you do not use the material for the purpose of advertising, satire or ridicule, or to misrepresent members of Parliament, and (4) your use of the extracts is fair, accurate and not misleading. Copyright in the Official Report of Parliamentary Debates is held by the Attorney-General of South Australia.-->
<hansard id="" tocId="" xml:lang="EN-AU" schemaVersion="4.0" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="hansard_1_0.xsd" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2007/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
  <name>Legislative Council</name>
  <date date="2025-02-05T14:15:00+10:30" />
  <sessionName>Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)</sessionName>
  <parliamentNum>55</parliamentNum>
  <sessionNum>1</sessionNum>
  <parliamentName>Parliament of South Australia</parliamentName>
  <house>Legislative Council</house>
  <venue></venue>
  <reviewStage>published</reviewStage>
  <startPage num="7699" />
  <endPage num="7780" />
  <dateModified time="2025-02-18T17:36:00+10:30" />
  <proceeding continued="true">
    <name>Question Time</name>
    <subject>
      <name>Prison Assaults</name>
      <text id="20250205efc1a36ad5d547bdb0000103">
        <heading>Prison Assaults</heading>
      </text>
      <talker role="member" id="6802" referenceid="c1fd605273be4c058a02036c43289159" kind="question">
        <name>The Hon. R.A. SIMMS</name>
        <house>Legislative Council</house>
        <questions>
          <question date="2025-02-05T03:45:00+10:30">
            <name>Prison Assaults</name>
          </question>
        </questions>
        <startTime time="2025-02-05T14:41:14+10:30" />
        <text id="20250205efc1a36ad5d547bdb0000104">
          <timeStamp time="2025-02-05T14:41:14+10:30" />
          <by role="member" id="6802" referenceid="c1fd605273be4c058a02036c43289159">The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (14:41):</by>  I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services on the topic of assaults in prisons.</text>
        <text id="20250205efc1a36ad5d547bdb0000105">Leave granted.</text>
      </talker>
      <talker role="member" id="6802" referenceid="c1fd605273be4c058a02036c43289159" kind="question" continued="true">
        <name>The Hon. R.A. SIMMS</name>
        <house>Legislative Council</house>
        <text id="20250205efc1a36ad5d547bdb0000106">
          <by role="member" id="6802" referenceid="c1fd605273be4c058a02036c43289159">The Hon. R.A. SIMMS:</by>  Might I also congratulate the minister on her elevation. Correctional services data reported in <term>The Advertiser</term> on Monday showed that prison assaults on prisoners and correctional officers doubled in the last year, with over 481 prison assaults recorded between 2023 and 2024. Regulation 9 of the Young Offenders Regulations 2023 allows for children as young as 10 years of age in lawful custody to be held in adult facilities in places further than 40 kilometres from Adelaide's General Post Office.</text>
        <text id="20250205efc1a36ad5d547bdb0000107">In 2024, child rights progress reports, issued by the Commissioner for Children and Young People, found that children are still being locked up in police cells alongside adults due to the denial of bail. In 2022, the Commissioner for Children and Young People noted in their report that children were held in adult facilities, such as police cells or other watchhouses, at least 2,030 times. My questions to the Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services therefore are:</text>
        <text id="20250205efc1a36ad5d547bdb0000108">1.&amp;#x9;Given the increase in prison assaults, does the minister believe that adult facilities are a safe environment for children aged between 10 and 14?</text>
        <text id="20250205efc1a36ad5d547bdb0000109">2.&amp;#x9;What action does the minister plan to take to protect vulnerable young people who are being incarcerated?</text>
      </talker>
      <talker role="member" id="5413" referenceid="07ef1306959a44c38acfb7dce9a031db" kind="answer">
        <name>The Hon. E.S. BOURKE</name>
        <house>Legislative Council</house>
        <portfolios>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services</name>
          </portfolio>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Minister for Autism</name>
          </portfolio>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing</name>
          </portfolio>
        </portfolios>
        <startTime time="2025-02-05T14:42:53+10:30" />
        <text id="20250205efc1a36ad5d547bdb0000110">
          <timeStamp time="2025-02-05T14:42:53+10:30" />
          <by role="member" id="5413" referenceid="07ef1306959a44c38acfb7dce9a031db">The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Autism, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:42):</by>  I thank the honourable member for his question. Obviously corrections, on my understanding, is based around supporting the adult population. I am happy to get more information around the issues you have raised today and get a briefing in that space, because I would also like to learn more about that as well. I will get a briefing on that matter.</text>
      </talker>
    </subject>
  </proceeding>
</hansard>