What happens if you plead guilty

If you plead guilty, you must be given the opportunity to to make a plea (submissions) about what penalty you should get.

Things you could tell the hearing officer about include:

• The reasons why the offence happened
• What was happening with you at the time of the offence (for example, if you had stresses going on at the time, or if someone had been racist towards you)
• If this is the first time you have been in trouble for something like this
• Any other good behaviour you have shown in prison (for example, if there have been no further issues since the offence)
• Any issues you have with mental health and how your mental health was at the time of the offence
• Any issues you have with cognitive disability and how this impacts your behaviour
• Any action you have taken to rectify or fix the situation (for example, an apology or conversation with another person involved)
• Your remorse (whether you are sorry about what happened)
• What you have learned from the offence, and from the disciplinary process
• What you are going to do to make sure this type of offence doesn’t happen again

Tip: It’s a good idea to make notes before the hearing about what you want to say in your plea, to make sure you don’t forget anything.

The hearing officer must listen to what you have to say and then make a decision about what the penalty should be. The hearing officer must consider:

• The circumstances of the offence
• Any mitigating factors (factors in your favour)
• Any submissions you made in your plea