Parole

Prisoners are only released on parole if a non-parole period has been set by the sentencing judge. The prisoner is then eligible for parole at the end of the period. Prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for five or more years have to apply to the Parole Board for release on parole. However, only prisoners who accept the conditions of parole fixed by the Parole Board will be released on parole [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.68(4)].

Where a person is sentenced to a period of imprisonment of one year or more, the judge must, when passing sentence, set a minimum period that must be served before the prisoner can be released on parole (unless the judge considers there is good reason not to) [Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988 s.32].

A person who commits an offence while on parole risks being sent back to prison to serve the balance of the original sentence (that is, the balance of that sentence remaining as at the day the new offence was committed).

The Parole Board sets parole conditions that a prisoner must accept before being released on parole. The Parole Board has six members, who must be [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.55(2)]:

a judge or a retired judge of certain courts or a person who has extensive knowledge of, and experience in, criminology or penology
a medical practitioner who has extensive knowledge of, and experience in, psychiatry
a person who has extensive knowledge of, or experience in, criminology, sociology or other related sciences
three people nominated by the Minister.

At least one member of the Parole Board must be a woman, at least one must be a man and at least one must be a person of Aboriginal descent. An officer of the department is not eligible to be appointed as a member of the Board.

The parole system is designed:

to allow for the early release of prisoners
to assist prisoners to move back to life in the general community with the supervision and advice of their parole officers
to assist prisoners to move away from a life of crime when back in the community.

A person appearing before the Parole Board is entitled to have legal representation [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.77(3)]. Once released on parole a person may apply to the Board for a variation (change) in or the revocation (ending) of, the parole conditions [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.71(1)]. The Parole Board may discharge a person completely from parole if it thinks fit, but cannot if the person is subject to a life sentence [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.72(1)].

Where the Parole Board believes that a person has breached the parole conditions, it may either summon the person to appear before it or apply to a justice of the peace for a warrant for the person's arrest [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.76]. The Board must conduct a hearing to determine if a condition of parole has been breached. The person accused of the breach of parole is entitled to legal representation at the hearing [Correctional Services Act 1982 ss.74,76,77]. Depending on the nature of the breach, the Board may cancel the parole and direct that the person resumes his or her sentence, up to a further six months, as it thinks fit [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.74(1)]. If a designated condition is breached (that is, one that the Board specified when fixing the parole conditions, would lead to automatic cancellation of parole if breached) the person must automatically serve the balance of the sentence in prison [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.73]. A person is also automatically liable to serve the balance of his or her sentence if an offence is committed while on parole which results in a further sentence of imprisonment being imposed [Correctional Services Act 1982 s.75].

A person returned to prison automatically whose remaining sentence is one year or more, may apply to have a new non-parole period fixed by the court [Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988 s.32].