Standards, guidelines and rules

Summary: Policy documents made by Corrections Victoria and individual prisons about how prisons are run.

Standards, guidelines and rules are documents that have policies and procedures about how prisons are run, and how people in prison are treated. They have not been created by parliament – instead they are made by Corrections Victoria and individual prisons.

Standards, guidelines and rules that apply to Victorian prisons include:

• Sentence Management Manual (all prisons)
• Correctional Management Standards (all prisons)
• Commissioner’s Requirements (all prisons)
• Deputy Commissioner’s Instructions (public prisons only)
• Operating Instructions (private prisons only)
• Local Operating Procedure (LOPs) (public prisons only)
• Operations Manual (OMs) (private prisons only)

There are also Guiding Principles for Corrections in Australia. This is a guideline that applies to prisons across Australia and has been adopted by Corrections Victoria.

For more information on these standards, guidelines and policies, use the links on the left side of this page.

Access to standards, guidelines and rules

You are entitled to access to these standards, guidelines and rules while you are in prison, but the prison does not have give you your own copy. This was decided in the VCAT case of Minogue v Department of Justice & Group 4 Correctional Services Ltd [2004] VCAT 1194.

Standards, guidelines and rules should be accessible in your prison’s library. If you think you have been unfairly refused access to one of these documents, you could complain to your Unit Manager or the General Manager at your prison.

If you do not get a response from the prison, or you’re unhappy with the response you get, you can complain to the Victorian Ombudsman. Before you can complain to the Ombudsman, you need to make a complaint at your prison first. For more information on making a complaint to the prison or the Ombudsman, see the Making a complaint section on the home page.

Prison rules and punishments

Your prison must make sure you know about any rules, regulations and routines that could lead to a disciplinary process if you breach them. They must also tell you what the possible punishments are. This information should be given to you as soon as possible when you enter a new prison.

If reading is harder for you, English is not your first language or you have a cognitive impairment, the prison must make sure you understand the rules and punishments. Let staff know if you need a copy in your language or in Easy English, or you need someone to help explain the information to you.

For more information on prison rules, click here.