Victoria plans to put prisoners to work fixing potholes

Victoria's Premier Ben Carroll on Monday outlined a plan to involve minimum-security prisoners in road maintenance work if the Labor government is re-elected in November. The announcement follows Sunday's news that the government would boost the road maintenance budget by $352m to fix 500,000 potholes by the end of January.

This funding adds to more than $1bn already budgeted for road maintenance in May, and is partly offset by delaying planned level-crossing removals in Melbourne's south-east — two in Highett and one in Mentone.

Role for prisoners

If re-elected, Labor would work with Corrections Victoria to design a pilot program allowing supervised, low-security prisoners to take on basic roadside tasks such as mowing lawns, controlling weeds, removing graffiti and collecting rubbish. This would free up skilled crews to focus on actual pothole repairs. The government stressed the scheme would not replace paid jobs but would supplement the workforce where skill and capacity shortages exist.

Carroll said low-level prisoners want to contribute something beneficial to the state, noting they already assist with graffiti removal and weed control.

Criticism

Greg Barns SC of the Australian Lawyers Alliance criticised the plan as a cynical short-term political fix, arguing that without award wages, it amounts to cheap labour used for political purposes. According to Corrections Victoria, prisoners are currently paid between $7.15 and $9.80 per day, well below minimum wage, with 20% of earnings compulsorily withheld as savings released only upon release. Barns said prisoners should be paid properly and that such work should be tied to post-release employment opportunities to help lower recidivism.

Carroll also pledged to bring road maintenance responsibility back in-house, reducing reliance on private contractors, and to launch a website letting residents report potholes and track repair progress. Road conditions have become a major election issue, especially for regional Victorians, with the opposition earlier pledging $5bn to repair roads and fix a million potholes if it wins in November.