The Victorian Greens have said Labor's rushed, knee-jerk bail laws won't improve community safety and will see the state's prison population continue to balloon, following the release of a report on prisoner numbers overnight.
The report by Victoria's Sentencing Advisory Council found that Victoria's prison population has surged by 62 per cent in the last 20 years.
This was largely driven by an increase in the number of people charged with offences but not released on bail, with the number of people being held on remand jumping from 649 unsentenced prisoners in 2005 to 1,994 last year.
The report also found Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remained over-represented in the state's prisons, with roughly 1 in 60 Aboriginal Victorians currently in custody, compared to 1 in 100 two decades ago.
Earlier this year, the Premier rushed through new bail laws that went against what First Nations communities, human rights groups, and the community had been calling for under Poccum's Law.
The push for Poccum's Law - evidence-based bail laws that prioritise community safety - arose following the death in custody of First Nations woman Veronica Nelson, after the inquest into her death labelled Victoria's bail laws an 'unmitigated disaster'.
As stated by the Victorian Greens spokesperson for justice, Katherine Copsey MLC:
"The Premier has clearly been more focused on optics than implementing policies that are proven to improve community safety.
"The last time Labor rushed bail reform we saw a doubling of the number of First Nations women in Victoria's prisons and deaths in custody.
"And now this year the Premier has again implemented a rushed, knee-jerk policy on the run.
"Public safety is not about more police and more prisons, it is about more care. The government should stop defunding intervention and bring back a reinvestment strategy that funds prevention and diversion.
"That is how we make Victoria safer. Otherwise the next report will be even more dire."
