Employment and money
Money
A person in prison’s money is held in a trust account and managed by the prison’s management. A person in prison’s account holds the money they earn in prison and any money given to them by family or friends.
Family and friends may bring money to the prison when they visit, or post a cheque or money order to the prison; this is then deposited into the person’s account by prison management.
The amount of ‘private money’ a person in prison can access or receive is set out in Part 4 of the Commissioner’s Requirements. However, prison management may allow a person in prison to receive additional private money to pay for long-distance phone calls to family and friends. There is no limit to the amount of money that can be held in a person in prison’s account.
People in prison do not have a right to receive Centrelink benefits.
Employment
Sentenced people in prison may be directed to work in a prison industry (s 84H Corrections Act). People on remand are not required to work, but they may choose to if work is available.
The range of occupations available varies from prison to prison. They include employment in a range of prison industry programs, gardening, farming, cleaning prison areas and clerical work.
Assignment to employment is conducted by the prison-based CMRC, which considers a range of factors, including a person in prison’s work skills, previous employment and security needs. People in prison may request a new occupation at any time.
The Corrections Regulations state that a person in prison must be paid for work performed as the result of assignment to that work (reg 43). The rate of payment varies according to the type of work undertaken, complexity of the work, skills required, ability and degree of responsibility, and the hours worked.
A person in prison’s earnings can be used to buy items from the prison canteen or to build savings, which are paid to the person when they are released.
Some of the money earned by people in prison is withheld as compulsory savings that are made available to the people in prison when they are released. This is to help the people with the costs related to their reintegration into the community. The amount withheld is 20 per cent of the person’s earnings.
Under the Corrections Regulations, prison management can deduct money from the account of a person in prison for certain reasons. For example, money can be deducted to cover the cost of replacing or repairing prison property that has been wilfully damaged or lost by the person. Also, if a person in prison is fined for a prison offence, the fine amount is withdrawn from the person’s account.
If a person in prison cannot be placed in employment due to a lack of available positions, they receive a minimum allowance. People on remand also receive a minimum allowance.
A prison manager may dismiss a person in prison who in the prison manager’s opinion is not performing satisfactorily, or is disruptive to the program (reg 44).
People in prison who refuse to work, or who are dismissed from work due to poor performance, or who have lost their privileges, receive no payment from Corrections Victoria.
In certain circumstances, people in prison who are injured while working have some entitlements to compensation under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic) (104ZR Corrections Act 1986 (Vic))
In addition, if a person in prison is injured due to unsafe conditions, or due to the prison’s negligence, the matter can be dealt with by a claim under common law.
