Portfolio — 12 August 2026

The dominant discourse arc for Carrum in this window is the concentrated legislative and reform output of the Member for Carrum, the Attorney-General and Minister for Planning, Ms Kilkenny, across three distinct but interlocking policy domains: worker safety, family violence, and housing supply.

The Attorney-General's most significant Assembly contribution in the window was the introduction of the Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2026 [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s045]. The Bill creates a new civil order scheme allowing retail operators, specified passenger transport operators, and employee unions to apply to a court for an order against any person aged 14 or older who has engaged in unacceptable conduct — including violence, sexual abuse, stalking, and threats — within the previous 12 months and is likely to do so again.

Breaches carry a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment, a fine of up to 240 penalty units, or both. The Bill includes proportionality safeguards: courts must not restrict a respondent's access to necessary goods or services unless alternatives exist, and must give special consideration to respondents who are children or have cognitive impairments.

The human rights dimensions of the Bill were the most contested element of the Attorney-General's parliamentary statement. She tabled statements of compatibility with both the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 and the Statewide Treaty Act 2025, concluding the scheme is compatible with both frameworks [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s044].

At the same time, she acknowledged directly that concerns raised by First Peoples experts and organisations regarding disproportionate impact on First Peoples — arising from their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system — have not been fully addressed [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s044]. The Bill's built-in statutory review, required to commence within three years of implementation, is the government's stated mechanism for monitoring those broader impacts.

The media release record shows the Attorney-General pursuing a parallel and equally intensive reform agenda outside the chamber. She asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission to examine whether serious driving offences are adequately defined and penalised, and whether new aggravated or mid-tier offences are warranted where negligent driving causes death or serious injury [TA-260726-vicmed-f932e045673d].

Separately, she announced a package of family violence law reforms that amends the Equal Opportunity Act to make subjection to family violence a protected attribute, creates a standalone coercive control offence, limits suppression orders so convicted rapists cannot use them as cover, strengthens Family Violence Intervention Orders, requires courts to consider victim-survivors' views before extending orders, expands Personal Safety Intervention Orders to recognise grooming, and removes good character references as a tool perpetrators can use to reduce jail time [TA-260811-vicmed-7d03b7fb3d17].

The breadth of this package — spanning criminal law, civil law, and equality law simultaneously — is the most structurally significant single reform announcement in the window.

As Minister for Planning, Ms Kilkenny announced the completion of the Train and Tram Zone Activity Centre Program, which together with new precinct planning controls in Macaulay, Fitzroy and Collingwood, Richmond, and Alphington gives Victoria planning controls in place to unlock capacity for more than 300,000 homes close to transport by 2051 [TA-260725-vicmed-d3c9f85d1ec7].

The Arden Station precinct alone is slated for 540 new homes. Building heights across the four new precincts range from two to 15 storeys, calibrated to proximity to transport and heritage constraints.

In separate Assembly remarks, the Member for Carrum congratulated school captains and community members from Patterson Lakes and surrounding primary schools within Carrum, and acknowledged the Patterson Lakes Canoe Club's 60th anniversary. The Member for Carrum, Mr Farnham — representing the neighbouring district — also used the Assembly to congratulate three young constituents, Cohen Cogo, Sam Richards, and Ella Clarke, on completing the Kokoda Trail [TA-260730-vichns-06b70b591935:s018].

Across the window, the records show a member operating across four ministerial portfolios with high output in both the chamber and through ministerial media releases, with the family violence and worker protection streams most substantively developed and the human rights compatibility questions around First Peoples impact representing the clearest unresolved tension in the legislative record.