When can phone call privileges be taken away?

Phone calls are on the list of prison privileges. This means they can be taken away as punishment in certain circumstances.

Important: phone calls to these people and exempt bodies can never be taken away:

Part 4.2.1 of the Commissioner’s Requirements has a list of situations where your phone privileges might be taken away:

You have received a full loss of privileges after a disciplinary hearing
You are under investigation for a prison offence and are in high security or management unit that doesn’t allow telephone calls other than to lawyers and other exempt persons
You used a prison phone for something that may impact the security, good order and management of the prison
You have participated in a conference call or a redirected telephone call (this does not include calls with an exempt body)
- A conference call or re-directed call is where you call someone on your approved list, and they add another person to the call who is not on your approved list.

What can I do if my phone call privileges have been taken away unfairly?

If you think your phone privileges have been taken away unfairly, you can complain to the Victorian Ombudsman.

For more information, see the Making a complaint section on the home page. It has information about:

A lawyer might be able to help if you have been unfairly or unlawfully refused phone calls.

For more information on getting help from a lawyer, click here.