Step 2: The disciplinary officer makes a decision
At the end of their investigation the disciplinary officer can decide to:
- Find no offence was committed, or it was trivial (not very serious), and take no further action; or
- Find an offence was committed, and take one of the following actions:
- Take no further action; or
- Deal with the offence by giving you a warning or removing one privilege for up to 13 days (sometimes called a minor offence process); or
- Charge you with a prison offence.
Important: A disciplinary officer’s decision cannot be appealed, reviewed or challenged in court.
If the disciplinary officer finds no prison offence was committed, any privileges you lost because of the accusation will be re-instated.
If the disciplinary officer finds you did commit a prison offence, they can also report the issue to Victoria Police for a criminal investigation. If this happens, the prison disciplinary process should stop and wait until Victoria Police have come back with a decision about whether to charge you.
Important: When doing their investigation and deciding what to do about a prison offence, disciplinary officers must think about:
- Any cognitive disability or impairment you have, your rights, and what impact this may have had on your behaviour at the time of the offence
- Your psychiatric (mental health), suicide and self-harm rating at the time of the hearing, and what impact this may have had on your behaviour at the time of the offence
- The impact any removal of privileges would have on any children, if relevant
- What penalty options are available before removal of a privilege (removal of privileges should be a last resort)
- The rights of young people, including any children who may be impacted by a particular punishment. Phone and visit contact with children can only be withdrawn where the officer can show it is ‘justifiable’. Taking away these visits should be a last resort