What can I do about a breach of my Charter rights?
If you believe one of your Charter rights has been breached, there are steps you can take.
Complain to the prison
If you believe your section 47 rights have been breached, you could:
- Make a complaint to your Unit Manager
- Write a letter to your General Manager
If you write a letter to your General Manager, you should include:
- What went wrong
- What right was breached (if you know)
- How the issue impacted you
- What would make things right for you
Important: Make sure you keep a copy of your letter, as well as a copy of any response you get from the General Manager.
For more information on how to make a complaint to your prison, see the Making a complaint section on the home page. It has information about:
- Preparing for a complaint
- Making an internal complaint (to someone at your prison)
- Making a complaint to Corrections Victoria
Complain to the Victorian Ombudsman
If you do not receive a response from the Unit Manager or General Manager or are not happy with the response you get, you can complain to the Victorian Ombudsman.
Important: you can only complain to the Ombudsman after you have tried to resolve the issue with the prison.
For more information on how to make a complaint to the Ombudsman, see the Making a complaint section on the home page. It has information about:
- Preparing for a complaint
- Making complaints to external complaint bodies
Get help from a lawyer
A lawyer might be able to help if your human rights have been breached.
For more information on getting help from a lawyer, click here.
Taking legal action about Charter rights
It is important to understand that Charter rights are not ‘stand-alone’ rights. This means that you cannot go to court because one of your Charter rights alone has been violated. It must be added to another ‘cause of action’ (reason to take Corrections to court).
For example, if an action by Corrections Victoria breaches the Corrections Act 1986 (Vic) or the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) and you take them to court or VCAT, you may also be able to add a cause of action for breach of Charter rights.
If you add a breach of the Charter on to your other court or VCAT action, the Court or VCAT will look at:
- Whether Corrections Victoria or the prison gave proper consideration to your human rights when making the decision; and
- Whether Corrections Victoria or the prison acted compatibly with your human rights.
If the Court decides that your Charter rights have been breached, it will then decide what ‘remedy’ to award you. The kind of remedies available are:
- A declaration that your human rights were breached
- An order that Corrections Victoria or the prison make a decision again, giving proper consideration to you human rights
- An order that Corrections Victoria or the prison act in a certain way (e.g if your court action was about being given the proper food for your religion, the Court can order the prison to give you that certain type of food)
- An order that Corrections Victoria or the prison stop acting in a certain way (e.g. if your court action was about putting you in solitary confinement, the Court can order that Corrections Victoria release you)
Important: the Court or VCAT cannot award you monetary compensation for breach of your Charter rights.
It’s a good idea to get legal advice before taking legal action against Corrections Victoria. If you lose your case, you can be made to pay the cost of Corrections Victoria’s legal fees. You will also likely need a lawyer to help you with most court actions, especially if you do not have access to a computer.