The grief-stricken families of serial killer Paul Denyer's victims will hold sway as Victoria crafts parole application restrictions for serious offenders.
The state government is working on changes to parole laws after Denyer's application was knocked back by the Adult Parole Board in May.
Denyer pleaded guilty to stabbing and strangling Elizabeth Stevens, 18, Debbie Fream, 22, and Natalie Russell, 17, in a seven-week period in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Frankston in 1993.
He was sentenced to life in jail with no parole, later reduced on appeal to a non-parole period of 30 years.
Premier Daniel Andrews admitted the board needed to engage much better with the families of victims and offered an apology for the handling of Denyer's case.
"It's very clear to us ... that this process has not been particularly well handled," he said on Tuesday.
"The system has had 30 years to get ready for this day and sadly I don't think those families have been as well-supported as they should have been."
Mr Andrews said the changes could include a minimum period between parole applications or a limit on the number of times certain prisoners could apply for release.
They would likely target murderers and mass murderers, particularly those who refuse to participate in rehabilitation programs.
Western Australia introduced similar legislation in 2018.
Mr Andrews told parliament he would meet the families of victims soon to discuss the parole system reforms.
Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes had met Ms Russell's immediate family and she said they welcomed her suggestion to build a "buffer" between applications.
"It's fair to say a minimum of five years would be our starting position," she said.
There is no timeline for the legislation to come before parliament.
The Victorian coalition last month introduced a private members' bill to ensure Denyer could not make further bids for freedom, akin to laws for Hoddle Street shooter Julian Knight and Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue.
In 2018, the Andrews government changed the Corrections Act to specify Minogue could not be released unless he was in imminent danger of dying or so incapacitated he was no longer a danger.
It mirrored previous legislation introduced for Knight in 2014 by the Liberal Napthine government and supported by the then-Andrews opposition.
The families of Denyer's victims deserved identical legislation, opposition corrections spokesman Brad Battin said.
"Anything that allows him to have an application for parole in the future is spitting in the face of the families," he said.
Crossbench MP David Limbrick, who was in a relationship with Ms Russell at the time of her murder, questioned why the government adopted a different approach for Knight and Minogue.
"If anyone's going to be on that list of people, Denyer clearly should be," he said.
"He's committed some of the most heinous crimes in the history of this state."
While welcoming the decision not to legislate specifically for Denyer, Liberty Victoria was concerned some prisoners could be prevented from reapplying for parole for five years.
"We understand that a prisoner being potentially granted parole will have a significant impact on victims and/or their family members and friends," president Michael Stanton said.
"However, these kinds of proposed reforms are highly susceptible to penal populism and are likely to operate unfairly."
