Australian prisoner sues for right to eat Vegemite behind bars

An Australian prisoner serving a life sentence for murder is challenging a statewide ban on inmates eating Vegemite.

Andre McKechnie claims that withholding the yeast-based spread breaches his human right to “enjoy his culture as an Australian”.

The 54-year-old is now suing Victoria’s Department of Justice and Community Safety and the agency that manages the prisons, Corrections Victoria, with the case scheduled for trial next year.

Vegemite has been banned from Victorian prisons since 2006, with Corrections Victoria saying it “interferes with narcotic detection dogs”.

Inmates used to smear packages of illicit drugs with Vegemite in the hope that the odor would distract the dogs from the contraband.

The product also contains yeast, which is banned from Victorian prisons because of its “potential to be used in the production of alcohol,” the contraband list says.

McKechnie is seeking a court declaration that the defendants denied him his right under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act to “enjoy his culture as an Australian”.

The Act guarantees “all persons with a particular cultural, religious, racial or linguistic background” the right to “enjoy their culture, to declare and practice their religion and to use their language”.

McKechnie also wants a declaration that the defendants breached the Corrections Act by “failing to provide food adequate to maintain [his] well-being”.

Prisons in Queensland have also ban Vegemite, but Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, has not.

The Department of Justice and Community Safety and Corrections Victoria declined to comment.