Prison officers banned from wearing the Australian flag. Male offenders housed in women's prisons. Jane Foreman says the Allan government has lost its way — and Family First will restore common sense to Victoria's correction system.
This week, Victorians learned that prison officers who wanted to proudly display a "grey line" Australian flag patch — the same type of symbol worn by police and firefighters in recognition of their service — were told no by Corrections Victoria. The flag was rejected. Meanwhile, other causes and symbols remain permitted. This is the Allan government's correction system in a nutshell: the Australian flag is a problem; ideology is a priority.
"When a prison officer can't wear the Australian flag on their uniform but other causes are waved through without question, you know this government has completely lost the plot. Family First will draw a line against this nonsense."
But the flag ban is just the latest symptom of a deeper disease inside Victoria's prison system. In February 2026, the Herald Sun revealed that a female prisoner was sexually assaulted by a transgender-identifying male murderer in a Victorian women's prison in 2022 — and the Allan government chose to quietly settle the case with taxpayer money rather than address the policy that caused it. Four years passed before any form of justice was seen. No criminal charges were laid against the perpetrator.
Despite the outcry, Corrections Victoria's current policy still permits male offenders to be placed in women's prisons based on self-identification. Women in prison are entirely under the control of the state. They cannot leave. They cannot protect themselves. And when the government places a male offender among them in the name of ideology, they are left exposed and defenceless.
"The same government that banned the Australian flag from prison uniforms spent four years hiding the fact that a woman was sexually assaulted by a male prisoner in a women's jail. This is not compassion. This is ideological cowardice — and it has a human cost."
These incidents reveal an institution that has elevated gender ideology and bureaucratic virtue-signalling above the safety of women prisoners, the dignity of corrections staff, and the basic common sense of everyday Victorians. Corrections Commissioner Larissa Strong claimed she was unaware the flag had been banned. The Minister said he would "investigate." Victorians have heard enough investigations — they want action
"Family First commits to drawing a clear line in Victoria's prison system: women's prisons are for women. Prison officers deserve to wear the Australian flag. And a government that is too embarrassed to stand behind either of those statements does not deserve to govern."
Family First's Jane Foreman is committed to demanding an immediate ban on placing biological male offenders in women's prisons regardless of gender identity, restoring the right of prison officers to wear the Australian flag, and holding Corrections Victoria accountable for its culture of ideological groupthink over community safety
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