HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-05-09 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

Prison Facilities

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:42): Supplementary: given that to the best of my knowledge South Australia is the only mainland state without a mothers and babies unit within prisons, does the minister concede that there must be a substantial amount of evidence that it is in the best interests of the child to be reunited with their mother while in prison? And on the issue of infrastructure—

The Hon. P. Malinauskas: Just say that again, sorry.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Given that we are the only mainland state without a unit for mothers and babies in prisons, there must be a substantial amount of evidence to suggest that it is in the best interests of the child, no? That is the first part. Secondly, in terms of infrastructure, in the minister's understanding so far, what would need to be provided to make sure that such a unit was built for the best interests of a child?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:43): As I stated in my previous answer, I am aware of the fact that there are some sources which demonstrate that it is indeed in the best interests of the child, under certain situations and in certain circumstances, to have on-site access to a mother, but again, I acknowledge the fact that I am pretty sure you are right that all mainland states do have a mothers and babies unit. We are, of course, the smallest mainland state when it comes to the size of our prison population, so that puts us in a different position. It is not a simple apples for apples comparison.

In terms of how that impacts the decision we have made up until this point, to provide a greater degree of clarity, it is the department's view that it is not okay to simply set up a mothers and babies unit in a way that does not reflect the need. In other words, just to set up a room in an existing facility and say, 'This room will provide access for a child and a mother,' is not sufficient. There needs to be appropriately designed and set up facilities to make sure that the interests of the child are best accommodated, rather than just doing it in an ad hoc way within the existing facility.

So, in other words, it is a case of: if it is going to be done it needs to be done properly and that, of course, brings with it additional expense, because we know that building facilities of any nature within a custodial environment is an exceptionally expensive exercise due to the unique nature of building within a prison system.

With that in mind and the relevant cost associated, as in every other decision that has to be made within government, the relative cost has to be weighed up with the relative benefit, and in the case of South Australia the relative benefit is small in comparison to other jurisdictions as a result of the small number of people that are likely to be affected.

This is a cause that I think, on the basis of evidence, most would be sympathetic towards. I have received a number of representations regarding this issue from organisations, and I have a great degree of affection and indeed admiration there, and we will continue to work with those organisations and the department in the context of a department that has a significant amount of demand within it and has a limited amount of resources to see what ways we can potentially deliver such a program, but at the moment there are not any plans to do so. Instead, our focus is on what we can do within the existing facilities to provide better access to mothers.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT