While there should be room on prison visiting committees for public representatives and those involved in politics, natural justice dictates that membership should also be open to professionals such as sociologists, social workers, criminologists and psychologists who are genuinely qualified to assess the well-being of prisoners. Penal reformers should also be included as persons who really care about the conditions in which prisoners live and about their prospects for rehabilitation. Doctors and teachers are in a position to accurately assess prisoners' educational and medical needs. However, it is not possible to do this because persons from these backgrounds do not sit on prison visiting committees as a matter of course. It is a joke to expect prisoners to make complaints to associates and appointees of the Minister who is ultimately responsible for the workings and failings of the prisons service. Prison visiting committees are a classic example of the Establishment investigating itself. This injustice demands reform. I ask Senators to accept this.