The Ombudsman has published an investigation of the Department for Correctional Services (DCS) which considered DCS’ imposition of 6-month visiting restriction on the mother of an Aboriginal prisoner.
The Ombudsman has published an investigation of the Department for Correctional Services (DCS) which considered DCS’ imposition of 6-month visiting restriction on the mother of an Aboriginal prisoner.
The restriction followed behaviour by the prisoner’s mother during a visit, which the department considered breached prison rules.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found that the visiting restriction was unreasonable for the following reasons:
- The restriction was imposed for longer than permitted under the department’s policies. DCS failed to tell the prisoner’s mother that it had erred in this regard.
- The decision to impose the restriction failed to consider relevant information, such as the severity of the conduct and the impact the restriction could have on the prisoner’s cultural and familial connections.
- The Ombudsman also found that DCS had failed to meet procedural fairness obligations to the prisoner’s mother.
The Ombudsman made recommendations to the department to amend its procedures to ensure that procedural fairness obligations are met, and to strengthen the decision-making process in relation to the imposition of visitor restrictions.
