A VICTORIAN government spokesman has said the government is open to discussions about establishing an online public sex offenders registry.
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The spokesman, from Police Minister Lisa Neville’s office, made the statement in response to a proposal put forward by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to establish a national public registry of convicted sex offenders.
Under the proposal, convicted sex offenders would be listed with information such as name, photograph, general location, date of birth and the nature of their offences.
Mr Dutton said that the registry would increase the safety of families.
However, although the spokesman said the government is happy to discuss the proposal, it will continue to be guided by “the experts”.
“We’re happy to participate in a national discussion with the Federal Government, but we will be guided by the experts – including Victoria Police – on what more is needed to keep Victorians safe,” he said.
The spokesman said that sweeping reforms had been put in place to “keep Victorians safe from the most serious offenders” following a review released in 2016 of the post-sentence supervision scheme for serious sex offenders.
Victoria already has a sex offenders registry overseen by Victoria Police, which is not available to the public.
“The Labor Government has also strengthened laws to keep children safe by placing stricter controls on those on the sex offenders register - ensuring we have the most robust sex offenders register scheme possible, to keep the community safe – especially our children,” the spokesman said.
Ararat is home to Corella Place, a supervised living facility which houses serious sex offenders who have served their sentences but have been deemed too dangerous to be released into the community.
However, the registry would have little impact on the facility as convicted sex offenders must meet a much higher threshold to be considered for a spot at Corella Place than they do to be placed on the Victorian registry.
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