The use of spit hoods on young people in Victorian prisons will be banned, after the Greens secured changes to a state government bill that will see the age of criminal responsibility raised from 10 to 12.
The upper house passed the 1,000-page youth justice bill about 2am on Friday, which includes a range of measures targeted at lowering the number of young people committing crimes.
It came just days after the government scrapped its commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027, which drew the ire of Indigenous organisations, legal experts and human rights groups.
During the debate, more than 200 amendments to the bill were put forward by the government, the opposition and crossbench MPs, with the Greens securing the support of Labor, the Legalise Cannabis party and the Animal Justice party to pass a ban on the use of spit hoods on children.
A spit hood is a mesh bag placed over a detainee’s head to stop them spitting saliva or biting and is designed to prevent injury or infection for guards.
While Victorian youth justice facilities do not have spit hoods, children in adult prisons have been subject to their use. They include a 17-year-old Aboriginal teenager, who was placed in one in February 2023 while in an adult prison despite no prior spitting incidents.
The incident was investigated by Victoria’s Commission for Children and Young People, which also found the teenager was confined to his cell for up to 23 hours a day over five months.
The teenager told Guardian Australia the ordeal was akin to “psychological torture”.
During debate, the youth justice minister, Enver Erdogan, said the government would accept the Greens change, given the ban on spit hoods on children was “already the practice”.
The Greens also amended the bill to require the government to report on the number of times it uses isolation in youth detention – including the reason and purpose – as well as the number of strip-searches conducted on detainees.
Another amendment secured a target of at least two hours’ outdoor exercise or recreation.
But the party failed to pass an amendment to ban the use of isolation altogether.
The Greens MP Katherine Copsey, the party’s spokesperson for justice, said the changes will ensure proper oversight and accountability.
“Reporting on strip-searches and isolation, as well as the banning of spit hoods and solitary confinement in legislation will help uphold the human rights, safety and dignity of children and help prevent the extreme trauma we know occurs when children come into contact with the criminal justice system,” she said.
The latest figures from the Department of Justice show detainees in youth justice facilities were placed in isolation 6,888 times for security reasons and 793 times for behaviour reasons between October and December.
Copsey told the upper house solitary confinement was “too regularly used” due to staffing shortages.
But Erdogan defended the practice, and said “isolation can only be used as a last resort, not as a form of punishment”.
“The new youth justice bill strengthens the legislative framework around the use of isolation, which protects both people in custody and our staff. It is a necessary measure, an operational tool that is required,” he said.
The chamber also passed government amendments, which include the introduction of new crime of committing a serious offence while on bail and greater powers for police to revoke bail, particularly for repeat offenders.
The bill will be passed in the lower house in the next sitting week.
