Explainer of Prison Offence Laws

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There are major differences between how offences in prisons are dealt with around Australia. These offences typically range from minor ones, such as keeping an untidy cell, to more serious ones and others that can become criminal charges.
For non-criminal prison offences, the rules for how these are investigated and dealt with are outlined in the various state and territory corrections acts.
These state what type of actions are considered prison offences, who is responsible for investigating whether one has been committed, what burden of proof that it happened must be reached, what punishments can be imposed and whether it is possible to review one of these decisions.

There are major differences between how offences in prisons are dealt with around Australia. These offences typically range from minor ones, such as keeping an untidy cell, to more serious ones and others that can become criminal charges.
For non-criminal prison offences, the rules for how these are investigated and dealt with are outlined in the various state and territory corrections acts.
These state what type of actions are considered prison offences, who is responsible for investigating whether one has been committed, what burden of proof that it happened must be reached, what punishments can be imposed and whether it is possible to review one of these decisions.

If a prisoner is detained in solitary confinement, the conditions they face in custody are significantly more challenging compared to the general prison population. In some cases, this may be taken into account by a sentencing court and result in a shorter sentence being imposed.
In law, silence is considered a fundamental right that provides fairness in criminal proceedings.
This guide doesn’t assume fair treatment, but it hopes to offer some tools to help you navigate online court while in prison.
Australia has two sources of law: legislation and common law. Legislation is made by parliaments and is available in documents called acts. Common law is made by judges in court decisions and covers areas that have not been legislated.
There is a lot of talk about human rights in prison – with things like ‘the Mandela Rules’, ‘the principle of equivalence’, and access to health care without discrimination.
Procedural fairness, often called “natural justice”, is a collection of rights, established under common law in Australia around the 1980s.
Generally, debts can be put into two categories. First, there are private debts (e.g. from a bank, a landlord, a car dealer, or ‘Afterpay’). Second, there are debts owed to the State (e.g. unpaid fines).
The concern for those who are subjected to government decisions is that they often do not get to see the integrity of the information which was considered by the decision-maker and don’t get to check if it’s correct.