Portfolio — 28 August 2026

Family violence reform dominates the Pascoe Vale discourse window, with the Member for Pascoe Vale emerging as a named advocate across both his own Assembly contributions and the remarks of other members debating the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Coercive Control, Good Character, Risk Assessment and Other Matters) Bill 2026. The convergence of own-voice and third-party recognition around a single legislative instrument gives Pascoe Vale an unusually coherent profile in this sitting period.

The Member's most personally charged contribution came during the family violence bill debate, where he acknowledged Vicki Cleary — a 25-year-old stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend outside a childcare centre in Coburg on 26 August 1987 — as an emblematic case of coercive control [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s081]. He read into the Assembly record a letter from Vicki's siblings Phil and Lizzie Cleary expressing support for legislation to prevent men's violence against women, and characterised the bill as landmark reform to prioritise victim-survivor safety, improve justice process efficiency, and hold perpetrators of coercive control, grooming, and other family violence offences to account [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s081].

The Member cited Victoria Police data recording 106,429 family violence incidents in 2024–25, and noted the national statistic that one woman per week is killed by a current or former intimate partner [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s081].

The cross-party resonance of this debate was notable. The Minister for Local Government, Mr Richardson, commended the Member for Pascoe Vale as an outstanding advocate when speaking in support of the bill [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s078]. From the Coalition, Ms Benham expressed gratitude for the coercive control legislation, noting the Opposition Leader had committed to standalone coercive control legislation as a first-act priority and describing the bill as a significant outcome for that advocacy [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s082].

Ms Benham also used the debate to call on the Australian Football League to establish a blanket policy preventing footballers convicted of domestic violence crimes from being registered with AFL clubs, arguing the decision should not rest with local club committees where survivors live in regional communities [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s082]. Both government and opposition members framed the legislation as addressing a long-standing gap in law, with emphasis on its intergenerational and preventive dimensions [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s078 TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s082].

The Member also spoke to the Corrections Amendment Bill 2026, which responds to a Supreme Court decision by amending the legal definition of open air in high-security and management prison units and strengthening safeguards around community corrections orders and advanced practitioner roles [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s052]. The bill permits decision-makers to limit prisoners' daily open air access to one hour where operational considerations — including security, management, good order, and prisoner welfare — make the full entitlement not reasonably practicable.

The Member reported that Corrections Victoria operates 15 facilities housing 6,500 adults in custody, with 40 per cent on remand and 60 per cent on sentence, and noted that bail refusals have reached record levels following tougher bail and violent crime legislation. The government committed $727 million in the 2025–26 budget for custodial capacity and 700 new corrections staff, with a further $2.6 billion in the 2026–27 budget including $229 million for capacity increases and $43 million for rehabilitation programs.

On local district matters, the Member visited Victoria Street mall in Coburg on 16 July with the Minister for Small Business to inspect a $153,000 revitalisation investment covering new outdoor umbrellas, shopfront improvements, lighting, refreshed awnings, safer paving, a performance space, and a summer live entertainment program [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s023].

On 18 August the Member examined RMIT's Brunswick campus and its approaches to fashion, textile, design and technology education, signalling intent to leverage economic, employment, skills and cultural opportunities in the Brunswick Design District [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s024]. A $400,000 investment via the creative enterprise program was announced on 14 August to support Outer Urban Projects, a creative organisation in the northern suburbs, over four years [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s025].

Road safety on key arterials in the district featured prominently. The Member reported confirmation from the Minister for Roads and Road Safety that the Department of Transport and Planning has finalised speed limit reductions on Melville Road — from 60 to 50 kilometres per hour — and will introduce a 40-kilometre school zone between McGregor Avenue and Fitzgibbon Avenue, with implementation expected by early 2027 [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s060].

The Member separately detailed a pattern of serious incidents along Bell Street, including a heavy freight vehicle fire on 2 December 2024, a truck rollover on 18 November 2024, and a car crash through a home on 21 July, and called for a holistic safety review covering light sequencing, extended bollards and fencing, and new signage and calming measures [TA-260826-vichns-9f81c0b98fb9:s060].