Liana Buchanan defends decision to use Victorian money to help families visit young offenders at Barwon

Victorians are paying taxi fares for the family members of the Parkville rioters so they can visit their children in prison.

Young offenders were moved to Barwon’s Grevillia unit after trashing the Parkville Youth Justice Centre last month.

Barwon Prison is more than 70 kilometres away from Parkville.

Victoria’s commissioner for children, Liana Buchanan, told Neil Mitchell it was important the children remained connected with their families.

She defended the controversial decision on 3AW Mornings.

‘We know that when kids are in custody it helps settle them if they still have contact with positive people in their life,’ she explained.

‘Remember, the kids in Grevillia are mostly on remand – they’re not sentenced – so there’s any prospect of them being released at any time (and) if they’ve maintained contact with family that helps better in terms of preventing them from re-offending.’

But several Neil Mitchell listeners rang up outraged by the revelations.

Click PLAY below to hear more on 3AW Mornings