A Drug Court Division is to be established within the County Court of Victoria with the drug court program extended to Ballarat and Shepparton.
Announced by Attorney-General, Jill Hennessy, the Justice Legislation Amendment (Drug Court and Other Matters) Bill 2020 would amend the County Court Act 1958 and Sentencing Act 1991 to establish the new Division with results from existing drug courts showing a reduction in reoffending.
Ms Hennessy said $35 million would be allocated to facilitate the expansion of the Drug Court to provide services to regional areas, as well as a County Court Drug Court pilot.
“The expansion is expected to provide capacity for up to 120 offenders to address their drug and alcohol issues and offending,” Ms Hennessy said.
“The Drug Court supervises offenders trapped in the cycle of drug and alcohol dependency and substance-related offending,” she said.
“The Court attempts to address the underlying factors that contribute to offending.”
Ms Hennessy said the Court provided participants with an opportunity to receive treatment and stay drug and crime free, or risk ending up in prison.
She said the existing Drug Courts proved to be successful, with results showing a reduction in reoffending.
“The move into regional Victoria will focus on providing services to help with local challenges of drug-related crime in some areas,” Ms Hennessy said.
