All humans need natural light and fresh air, including people in prisons, who must be treated with dignity even if their freedom has been constrained as a form of punishment. This is a long-standing principle of human rights law. It is also reflected in Victorian legislation.
The Allan Government is trying to avoid its responsibilities to its prisoners by retrospectively absolving itself for breaching minimum standards set out in its own legislation.
Section 47 of the Corrections Act 1986 (Vic) currently gives prisoners ‘the right to be in open air for at least an hour each day, if the weather permits’. The Minister for Corrections has introduced the Corrections Amendment Bill 2026 (Vic) to the Victorian Parliament, which would restrict the right subject to ‘operational considerations’.
The Victorian Supreme Court recently determined that the Victorian Government had breached their obligations in the case of Marrogi v Secretary, Department of Justice and Community Safety. In Marrogi, the Supreme Court found that small cell yards where ‘there is no possibility of feeling the rain falling, and … there is no sensation of being exposed to the sun’ do not constitute being in the ‘open air’.
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, the Allan Government should have taken steps to comply with the minimum standards set in Victorian law.
The government’s proposed amendments would result in people’s human rights being denied. The Minister himself has acknowledged that this ‘may limit’ the right to humane treatment when deprived of liberty protected by section 22 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. It also breaches the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (known as the Mandela Rules).
The Bill also retrospectively removes the government’s liability for violating the rights of prisoners, even though the Supreme Court’s decision is still subject to an ongoing appeal.
How democracies treat their most vulnerable and marginalised members is an important measure of the fundamental values that our governments uphold on our behalf.
The Allan Government must ensure that anyone deprived of liberty by the state is treated humanely and that their human rights are prioritised. Liberty Victoria urges the government to abandon the proposed legislation.