The Chief Executive Officer of the department decides where each prisoner is sent [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.22]. Each prisoner who has been sentenced to more than six months imprisonment must be assessed by the Chief Executive Officer of the department as soon as possible after admission and from then on, at least once every twelve months [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.23]. This is to determine whether the prisoner should be transferred, either within the prison or to another prison. Following an assessment, the prisoner is classified as high, medium or low security. A Prisoner Assessment Committee assists and advises the Chief Executive Officer with this task and considers [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.23(3)]:

The committee must take into account a prisoner's written or verbal representations when they consider the assessment.

On arrival, all prisoners have their personal possessions and clothing taken, listed and placed in storage. There are precise regulations as to the quantity of personal possessions the department will store for a prisoner while the sentence is being served [Correctional Services Regulations 2001 Reg. 7]. Newly arrived prisoners are issued with prison clothing and immediately placed in their cells. In most prisons, each prisoner has his or her own cell, although in recent times the Adelaide Remand Centre and E Division at Yatala Labour Prison have been placing two prisoners in each cell.