Convicted criminals can expect a sentencing crackdown under a Nationals and Liberal Government with Emergency Management Days (EMDs) sentence reductions in Victorian prisons to be abolished.
Under Labor’s current system, convicted criminals can receive sentence reductions through the Emergency Management Days (EMD) scheme, allowing offenders to spend less time in prison because of lockdowns, industrial disputes and other operational disruptions.
Victoria is the only Australian jurisdiction with this scheme, which has collectively removed more than 2,000 years collectively from prison sentences in recent years.
EMDs were used extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic, with prisoners receiving sentence reductions as compensation for prolonged lockdowns and restricted prison regimes.
Ms Bath said ending Emergency Management Days sentence reductions in Victora will help restore public confidence in a justice system where court imposed sentences are served in full.
“Victorians deserved a justice system that prioritised victims and community safety over sentence reductions for offenders.
“The Nationals and Liberals will end the flawed scheme that’s allowed some offenders to receive more than a year off their sentence, including a prisoner convicted of murdering their intimate partner who received 427 days off their sentence.
“Victims should not have to watch convicted criminals receive discounted prison time through a scheme that exists nowhere else in Australia.
“The Nationals support a justice system that puts victims first, not one that allows convicted criminals to cut their time behind bars through sentencing loopholes.”
Ms Bath said abolishing EMDs is an important step in helping to restore public confidence in Victoria’s justice system that had been weakened by Labor.
“We are drawing a line under Victoria’s soft justice system that has stripped thousands of years from prison sentences – convicted criminals must serve time as intended.
“The Nationals and Liberals’ stance is, if you do the crime, you will do the time.”
