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What Information is Collected About Prisoners?

Corrections Victoria records personal information about prisoners which includes name, date and place of birth, and address, information on nationality, ethnicity, religion, marital status, family details, medical conditions, drug/alcohol usage, criminal history, photographs and emergency contacts, collected for the purposes of appropriate management of prisoners.

Corrections Victoria collects, uses and discloses personal information under the Corrections Act 1986 and the Victorian Information Privacy Act 2000.

More broadly, personal information includes 'information or opinion whether true or not, that is recorded in any form about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can be reasonably ascertained'. This definition allows for opinions written about a person, like appraisals of work and behaviour.

Information may also be recorded for reasons relating to prison security, for example telephone calls made by prisoners may be monitored or recorded.

Courts sometimes request a pre-sentence report or assessment to determine suitability for supervision in the community. This requires Corrections Victoria to collect personal information.

Prisoners convey information about persons close to them during interviews and case management.

When a family member or friend makes a representation on behalf of a prisoner, such as writing a letter to Corrections Victoria or contacting a staff member by telephone, personal information will be collected from them.

Why is this information collected?

This information is collected to ensure that:

• a person is lawfully in custody or properly supervised in the community
• security is maintained in Victoria's prisons
• appropriate programs and services are provided to prisoners.

How is this information collected?

Corrections Victoria collects information personally from prisoners by personal interview. Corrections also gathers information from organisations and individuals such as:

• Adult Parole Board, for information about the conditions of parole
• police (state, territory and federal) for background information about the charges
• case workers managing programs for prisoners
• prospective co-residents involved in the home detention assessment process
• family members of prisoners seeking transfer under the interstate transfer provisions
• courts, for information about the offence and sentence.

Visitors to the Prison

Prisoners nominate persons who can visit them on their Approved Visitors List so some of their personal information has been recorded. Visitors will be asked for proof of their identity when entering the prison. Similarly, prisoners must provide details of those people they wish to contact by telephone.

Visitors should be aware that, due to the high security in place in prisons they may be monitored and recorded on CCTV in visiting areas and car parks on prison property.

If a visitor or their vehicle is searched, the details of the search may be collected and recorded by prison authorities including the vehicle's registration number.

Use of information collected

Personal information is governed by the Corrections Act 1986, or as required by any other law.

Personal information is used to appropriately place prisoners in the Corrections system and ensure access to appropriate programs and services, including post release services.

Prisoners are assigned a unique personal identity number known as a Corrections Reference Number (CRN), which is used to accurately identify a prisoner. Prison Visitors are assigned a Visitor Reference Number (VRN) used to record that a visit has occurred and to assist in conducting future visits.

Disclosure of Information

Corrections Victoria will disclose to any member of the public who enquires, whether a person is currently imprisoned or under supervision in the community. It will not provide any further information or disclose details of any previous contact with Corrections.

Generally consent will be sought from a person before their information is disclosed to someone else. The exception to this is when someone acting on behalf of a prisoner, such as their legal representative, makes the request.

Personal information will be disclosed where:

• it is authorised under the Corrections Act 1986
• it is reasonably necessary for law enforcement
• it is allowed under the Information Privacy Act 2000
• it is required or authorised under any other law
• there is implied consent from the prisoner or offender; for example, Corrections will tell a person nominated by a prisoner as a visitor, of the prisoner's location in order to facilitate a prison visit.

Some examples of bodies or individuals to whom personal information would be disclosed are:

• Adult Parole Board
• Australian Tax Office, Centrelink, Child Support Agency, Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) and Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA)
• the person nominated by a prisoner or offender as an emergency contact
• the persons nominated by a prisoner as visitors
• agencies which have been authorised by the Minister for Corrections to receive specific categories of information, for example, community organisations providing assistance to prisoner, offenders or their families
• a state or federal police force in cases where a warrant of apprehension is in existence or where an offender or prisoner is identified as a suspect in a criminal investigation
• persons registered as victims on the Victims Register, which enables those who are victims of a violent crime to be provided with specific information about the prisoner who committed the crime
• an agency or individual authorised by a Regional Manager of Community Correctional Services to receive information relating to an offender
• a court which has requested an assessment of a person's suitability for an order requiring their supervision in the community.

Information disclosed by Corrections is used by the following three agencies for data matching purposes to update and to improve their records:

• the VEC uses Corrections data to update a person's eligibility to vote
• Centrelink uses Corrections data to determine eligibility for benefits
• DIMIA uses Corrections data to initiate a review of the status of non citizens.