Prisoner

Legal advice

You are entitled to speak to a lawyer about your legal matters.

You can ask the Functional Manager or SAPO at your gaol to arrange to put your name on a waiting list to see a solicitor from Legal Aid NSW. If you do this a solicitor from Prisoners Legal Service at Legal Aid NSW will arrange to speak with you.

You can also call Legal Aid to get advice over the phone (#2 on the CADL). If you need advice about parole or prison issues, or if you have a general criminal law enquiry, you may be transferred to Prisoners Legal Service (PLS) to discuss your issue. If you have a solicitor assigned to your criminal law matter, you need to add their phone number to your phone card to be able to call them – Legal Aid will not transfer your call.

If you need assistance with a civil law or family law issue you will not be able to talk to someone over the phone, but Legal Aid NSW will try and arrange for someone to book a conference with you.

If Legal Aid is representing you at court and you have not been able to talk to your lawyer before the day of court, you may be able to speak to them on the telephone on the morning of court. It is very important that you attend all booked legal conferenced with your lawyer though, so that your case can be prepared before the day of court. 

If you want information about when or where your matter is listed in court, please look at the kiosk function on your tablet or call the Corrective Services help line (#1 on the CADL).

Criminal law

PLS provides advice, minor assistance and representation for:

• hearings at the State Parole Authority
• life sentence determinations
• segregation appeals
• visiting magistrate hearings.

PLS can provide free advice and minor assistance with:

• bail
• legal aid
• appeals
• parole
• classification and other prison issues.

PLS lawyers either visit or arrange video link or telephone conferences with prisoners in all NSW gaols. 

For more information, see Prisoners Legal Service.

Family law

PLS provides a free pre-booked advice service for help with family law matters, including:

• child protection (when children are removed from their Mums and Dads by DCJ, formerly known as Docs)
• adoption
• parenting disputes
• mediations post-release
• child support
• divorce
• dividing the family home and property when a relationship ends.

An advice session will last up to 15 minutes, but longer sessions can be booked if you don’t speak English and an interpreter is needed. There will be a waiting period before you are interviewed by a solicitor, and it will take place either by telephone or audio-visual link.

The family law team can also tell you whether legal aid will be available in any of the matters listed above if they are listed before the court.

For more information, see Prisoners Legal Service.

Civil law

Prisoners Civil Law Service at Legal Aid NSW (PCLS) provides legal advice and assistance to people in prison with civil law issues, including:

• Centrelink issues
• complaints about government departments
• consumer disputes and debts
• discrimination complaints
• fines and WDOs
• healthcare and medication complaints
• housing matters, including all social housing matters (e.g. rental disputes, permission for absence from dwelling and NCAT matters)
• victims compensation restitution debts
• victims support payments
• wrongdoing by prison guard or police (including assault, excessive force, false imprisonment).

If you need assistance with a civil law issue you will not be able to talk to someone over the phone, but PCLS will try and arrange for someone to book a conference with you. 

For more information, see the Prisoners Civil Law Service.

Make a complaint or request a new lawyer

If you have a complaint about a Legal Aid NSW lawyer, or a private lawyer representing you on behalf of Legal Aid NSW, please call Legal Aid NSW (#11 on the CADL).

If you want to change your lawyer, you need to speak to the Grants Administration who will record the details of the request and work with you to achieve an outcome. A transfer is not always possible, you will need to provide good reasons for why your matter should be transferred.

If you have a complaint about how you are being treated by Corrections or Youth Justice, you can call the NSW Ombudsman (#8 on the CADL).

If you have a complaint about an urgent medical issue, contact the Corrective Service Support Line (#1 of the CADL).

Your rights in gaol

You have rights when you are in gaol. This includes your right to:

• have visitors
• confidential legal advice and correspondence
• request a review of your security classification
• request a review of your gaol placement
• present evidence and cross-examine witnesses in an inquiry
• request a review of segregation orders
• change your name
• victims support, if you are the victim of a violent crime in gaol
• access legal information.

For more information, see Your rights in gaol.

Fines

If you are in gaol, you may be able to request for your overdue fine(s) to be put on hold until you are out of custody.

You will need to fill out an Inmate Request for Information form.

You can get a copy of this from the Forms page on the Revenue NSW website.

Sample: Inmate Request for Information [PDF, 180KB]

You can also use this form to request copies of your overdue fine(s).

You can also complete the 'Authority to Act' section if you would prefer for a relative or friend to act on your behalf when dealing with Revenue NSW.

If Revenue NSW is notified by Corrective Services NSW that you are in custody, they will generally suspend any debt recovery action against you, unless there are exceptional circumstances. 

If your application is accepted, this will not affect any other penalties that you received in addition to the fine, for example, licence suspensions.

For more information, see What if I do nothing?

Parole

Parole allows you to be released early from gaol to serve the remainder of your sentence in the community. If you are released on parole, you are not free to do whatever you want and go wherever you want. You must follow all parole conditions that you are given.  

If you are serving less than three years in prison, you will be automatically released on statutory parole by the court when your non-parole period expires.

If you are serving more than three years and one day in prison, the State Parole Authority will decide whether to grant you parole.

For more information, see Parole.