Independent Prison Visitors

Corrections Victoria has an Independent Prison Visitor Scheme.

Independent Prison Visitors (IPVs) are volunteers arranged by Corrections to visit prisons and provide feedback to the Minister for Corrections. Every IPV is allocated to a particular prison for a period of 5 years.

Visits by IPVs at prisons

The laws about IPVs come from Regulation 78 of the Corrections Regulations 2019 (Vic).

If an IPV is coming to your prison, the General Manager of your prison must let everyone in the prison know the time and date they are coming.

You can request to speak to an IPV when they are going to attend. The General Manager must tell the IPV about any requests from people in prison to speak to them, and make the arrangements needed for a person to speak with the IPV.

The IPV can meet with you out of hearing from prison officers, but a prison officer must be able to see you.

The General Manager must give the IPV access to every part of the prison necessary for them to perform their duties.

Writing a letter to an IPV

You can also write a letter to the Independent Prison Visitors if you have a concern.

You can address your letter to:

Independent Prison Visitors
GPO Box 123
Melbourne VIC 3001

Important: mail to the IPVs is exempt mail. That means prison officers are not allowed to open your letters to or from the Commissioner, except in very specific circumstances. For more information on Mail, click here.