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Prisoner Property

What can prisoners keep while they are in prison?

Corrections Victoria allows prisoners to keep some personal effects in their cells to enable them to adjust to life in prison.

Staff conduct property searches of all prisoners on reception into the prison. Prisoners have an allocation of property according to a maximum points system. Once the prisoner has been informed of what is allowed to be held, then items are issued up to the points total allocated, and recorded on a cell card.

Excess items of authorised property may be stored for the prisoner to a total amount of up to 0.2m³. This is about the size of an average suitcase plus a few additional items. All items are recorded on a property card with as much identifying detail as possible including the condition of items, and any make, model or serial numbers. The prisoner is asked to sign that these details have been recorded correctly.

Prisoners are asked to provide an address to which all other excess property can be forwarded within seven days of arriving at the prison. Alternatively, if the prisoner does not make such an arrangement, items may be forwarded to the prisoner’s next-of-kin or emergency contact person, or placed in private storage at the prisoner’s expense.

Corrections Victoria endeavours to ensure that all property held on behalf of prisoners is safely stored. However, liability for loss, damage or destruction of property is limited to a maximum of $250 for all property. Prisoners are advised of this maximum amount of liability on reception into the prison, and encouraged to consider this when storing or forwarding excess property.

Prisoners may apply to retrieve items from stored property, provided they do not then exceed their total cell property allowance. Prisoners can also request that items in storage be given to a visitor, or disposed of or destroyed.

Credit cards are stored in the prison safe until they are released to an individual of the prisoner’s choice, or returned to the issuing financial institution.

Jewellery

Items of jewellery are listed on a property card, and described in as much detail as possible, and stored with the rest of the prisoner’s belongings. Prisoners may wear a plain, single wedding band. The wedding band may be engraved or patterned, but may not contain any stone inserts.

Unauthorised property

Items that threaten the good order, security and management of the prison are not allowed to be kept in prison. Items that prisoners or visitors may need to be aware of include:

• hobby knives and razor blades, except disposable blades, are not allowed in medium and maximum security locations
• hard cover books are not permitted in high security locations, such as the Acacia Unit at Barwon or Unit A2 at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
• pens and highlighters must have a transparent casing, that enables the contents to be inspected
• USB flash hard drive devices or MP3 players are not allowed

Prisoners are given 48 hours to make arrangements for unauthorised property to be disposed of, as it is not allowed to be stored on prison premises. If the prisoner fails to make any arrangement, then the General Manager will destroy or dispose of the items.

Publications or audio-visual material and pay TV

Prisoners may only access publications or audio-visual material that are classified as Unrestricted, in accordance with the Commonwealth Classification of Films and Publications Act 1990.

Where Pay TV is provided, the access is restricted to four channels, one of which must be a documentary and/or educational channel. The classification of programs available must not exceed the MA rating.

Transferring prisons

When a prisoner is transferred to another prison, their property is transported to their new location. Items will be checked off against the prisoner’s property card, to ensure all items are as recorded and in good order, and the procedures followed once again to decide what possessions the prisoner may keep and what goes into storage. When a prisoner is transferring interstate, prison managers must decide how much property can be safely and conveniently moved with the prisoner. Any excess property must be disposed of prior to transfer, or it may be forwarded at the prisoner’s expense.

Discharge

When it is time for a prisoner to be discharged, all of their property will be returned to them. Seven days before discharge, prisoners are given the opportunity to inspect their clothing and request that it be cleaned.

Unclaimed Property

If property is left unclaimed after one month, the prison management will deal with this in a number of ways:

• a letter to the last known address of the owner will be sent, informing them that they should claim the property within 30 days or it will be disposed of
• clothing and other items of minimal value may be given to charity or destroyed
• items of significant monetary value are registered with the Director of Prison services, who will authorise that they be sold at public auction