You may be placed at any one of the twelve male, or two female, correctional facilities in Victoria. You must be assigned a case worker soon after arriving at prison, and the case worker is responsible for monitoring and supporting you. If you are in need of protection, there are special units provided. You may be transferred between prisons or sections of the prison at any time.
The classification system
Classification codes refer to the assessment of your level of risk, or your needs. The lower the number the higher the risk. These include:
S1 – S4 – Risk of suicide / self-harm
V1 – V3 – Risk of significant violence
T1 – T3 – Risk of serious threat from others
E1 – E4 – Risk of escape
M1 – M3 – Medical condition
P1 – P4 – Psychiatric condition
Security rating system
The security rating system has five tiers which are:
A1 – high security
A2 – maximum security
B – medium security
C1 – minimum security
C2 – minimum security
Your classification and security rating records
Even if you don’t know it, you will have a structured Individual Management Plan on file which sets out your security, employment, programs or treatment goals while in custody. You can read Sections 1 – 3 of your IMP file (you need to submit an FOI request to obtain copies of the documents in Section 4) – just ask your case worker about this. If they ask what part you want, say “all of it”, and you should be given it to read yourself. You can take notes of what is in the file if you like. If there is an issue getting access or with taking notes, talk to a Supervisor or Manager (Governor) about this.
Review and Assessment Committees
The R & A Committee at the prison will review:
– your classification and security rating
– which unit you will live in
– what work you will do
– if you can have residential visits
– if you have leaves; and many other things like applications to have a computer or a Playstation
Local Management Plan
A Local Management Plan (“LMP”) will be written up for you, whether you cooperate with your case worker or not. If you want to do a program or move on to another prison, make sure you tell your case worker so it can be included in your LMP. For example, tell them “one of the goals of my LMP is that I finish my programs and move on to another prison within 12 months”. Then, when they review the progress of your plan towards your goals, this will put pressure on the programs people to get you in a program. This is what LMPs are for and you should use the LMP system to benefit you. If you want your LMP reviewed so that it says what you want it to, you can ask the R & A Committee at the prison to review it and change it – you do this by putting in an R & A Application form.
Classification and security rating review
There are Sentence Management Panels which are made up of people from the Sentence Management Unit of Corrections Victoria and they will see you every year to decide where you will be placed, or sometimes they will see you more often. The meeting each year is called the ‘Annual Classification’ or ‘Annual Review’. If you are in a Management Unit you will be seen by the local R & A Committee every week.
At every R & A and Sentence Management Panel meeting they complete what is called “2 sheet B”. This 2 sheet B is the record of the meeting and the decision. The 2 Sheet Bs are put on your IMP file and you can ask to see and read them.
You can ask for a review of any decision of a local R & A or the Annual Classification. You do this by writing to the General Manager of the Sentence Management Unit at:
The General Manager
Sentence Management Unit
Corrections Victoria
GPO Box 123
Melbourne VIC 3001
DX210085 (No stamp is required for DX mail)
If you want them to review a decision you will need to have reasons why. That you are not happy with it is not a good enough reason. You can have your friends, family and lawyers write to Sentence Management and support your request for a review of a decision. These decisions may also be reviewed judicially (see fact sheet #23: Judicial review).
Further information
This fact sheet contains general information only and is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice. If you would like advice regarding a specific problem please contact one of the legal services listed in contacts or contact the Law Institute of Victoria’s Legal Referral Service on 9607 9311.