What happens when you break a prison rule? (Disciplinary process)

Summary: Disciplinary process.

If a prison officer accuses you of breaking a prison rule, regulation or routine, you can be referred for a disciplinary process.

There are important laws that apply to how the disciplinary process must run, and what your rights are during the process. These come from Part 7 of the Corrections Act 1986 (Vic) and Part 6 of the Corrections Regulations 2019 (Vic).

There are more rules about how the disciplinary process should run in part 2.3.3 of the Commissioner’s Requirements and part 1.16 of the Deputy Commissioner’s Instructions.

The steps involved in the disciplinary process are:

1. Investigation by a disciplinary officer
2. The disciplinary officer makes a decision
3. If you are charged with a prison offence, the disciplinary officer makes a referral to a disciplinary hearing officer
4. The disciplinary hearing will run
5. The hearing officer will make a decision
6. If you are unhappy with the hearing officer’s decision, there are some steps you can take

For a diagram of the disciplinary process, use the link on the left side of this page.

For more information on each of the steps, use the links on the left side of this page.