Come Home Safe – April 2019 (PDF version)
The Juvenile Justice Delegates Committee held an emergency teleconference on Friday 5 April 2019. Your delegates recommended ‘cease unsafe work process’ is to be utilised when appropriate. This was explained in the previous bulletin. Staff can cease unsafe work by using the following template found HERE.
During this meeting your Delegates also requested that PSA write (see HERE) to the Executive director Ms Melanie Hawyes to request information on what proactive steps the Department is taking to ensure the safety of staff and others and prevent workers from being continuously assaulted by detainees.
In response a meeting was held between the Department Executive and your PSA representatives Mr Gino Di Candilo and Mr Martin Robinson on Thursday 11 April 2019 where Occupational Violence in Juvenile Justice was discussed at length.
Both parties were in agreement that an Enhanced Support Unit was needed to improve the safety of all in Juvenile Justice and the Department is currently looking at a model in Victoria. It was also agreed that this was a long-term plan.
The focus of this meeting was on the current situation and what steps the Department is putting in place to resolve the ongoing violence that is occurring across most centres in the state.
The Department put to the PSA that it has reviewed the use of DRMPs; these have been upgraded and individualised, and staff have the ability to be involved in the development of the DRMP.
It was also stated that staff have a suite of controls they can use that are only restricted by legislation.
The Department would like to meet with the PSA on a more regular basis to discuss these controls at greater length and have invited the PSA to visit a number of institutions that also deal with the type of clients that Juvenile Justice deal with. The visits will be in early May and include: –
- Sherwood House (FACS secure care)
- Austinmer (Justice Health) Long Bay
- Parkville and Malmsbury (Vic)
#comehomesafe
What can you do?
- Ask a work colleague join the PSA today
- Make the union strong by forwarding this bulletin to your colleagues
- Attend PSA meetings at your worksite
- Get involved become a PSA Delegate
- Not a member? JOIN online!