Inquiries and hearings the Sentence Administration Board holds

The Sentence Administration Board (SAB) will have an inquiry or hearing when we need to:

• make parole decisions
• hear breach allegations
• decide if we will reinstate an intensive correction order.

An inquiry is where we only consider paperwork, and there are no attendees.

A hearing is when we consider paperwork and speak to people asked to attend.

Inquiries

We aim to complete parole applications and management of parole inquiries without a hearing.

We will write to you to tell you we are holding an inquiry into your application. You do not attend the inquiry.

We can decide to grant parole at this stage if the information we have shows us parole is appropriate. There must be no reasons why you should not be released.

We would decide to hold a hearing if:

• we need more information
• have concerns that need to be addressed
• your parole application is incomplete.

Hearings

Notice of hearing

If we decide to hold a hearing, we will issue a Notice of Hearing. It will tell you the:

• reason for the hearing
• date, time and place of the hearing
• concerns we have and information we need.

The things we need more information about may include:

• you do not appear to have addressed your offending behaviour
• you need further treatment for substance abuse
• you do not have a suitable place to live
• you have breached corrections orders in the community before
• telling us about your plans for professional supports in the community.

Attendance at hearings

For application for parole hearings you can attend the hearing or write a submission or do both.

You must attend a hearing if you receive a Notice of Hearing for:

• management of parole
• breach of parole
• breach of intensive correction order.

If you do not attend these hearings we may issue a warrant for your arrest.

Please contact us before your hearing if you have a good reason for not attending. For example, you are in a residential rehabilitation centre or you are unwell.

If you are unwell you need to give us a medical certificate that confirms you are too ill to attend. We prefer medical certificates to state you cannot attend the hearing, rather than be a general certificate.

Prepare for your hearing

A hearing is your opportunity to address issues of concern.

You should prepare for your hearing and bring anything that that will support your matter. For example:

• confirmation of appointments with services
• course certificates
• reports or support letters.

ACT Corrective Services will prepare a report and you will get a copy. You will also get any written information from other agencies, for example:

• the Department of Public Prosecutions
• Justice Health Services
• community service providers.

If you do not have copies in advance we will give you time to read them. We will adjourn the hearing to a later date if you need more time to do this.

Read the materials carefully and think about how you can speak to us about any issues that they raise.

We encourage you to bring family, friends and professional supports to hearings. They can support you and may also be able to answer our questions. Persons under the age of 18 cannot attend the hearing.

Tell us who you want to attend the hearing. Attendance is subject to security considerations and space. Some people may only take part by telephone.

Legal representation

You have a right to legal representation at a hearing.

Please contact us if you appoint a representative. We will share the relevant materials for your hearing with them.

You must ask us before the hearing if you want to bring a ‘McKenzie Friend’. A McKenzie Friend is not your legal representative but someone who can help you during the hearing. We will decide whether to allow a McKenzie Friend to attend your hearing. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Special help and support

We want you to be able to participate fully in the hearing.

If you need any special help and support please contact us.

• We will arrange an interpreter if you need one.
• Someone will read written materials to you if you need them to.

During the hearing

We are not a court, but we usually hold hearings in a room in the ACT Law Courts building.

We may hold some hearings by telephone or using audio visual equipment if a face-to-face hearing is not possible

At the hearing there will be:

• 3 members of the Sentence Administration Board - a judicial member will open and close the hearing
• secretariat staff to support Sentence Administration Board members and take minutes from the hearing
• an officer from ACT Corrective Services
• any friends, family or professionals you have asked to support you
• a representative of the Director of Public Prosecutions may also attend.

We will give all participants the opportunities to make submissions and answer any questions from us.

We aim to make the hearings informal and fair. We want you to feel comfortable and understand what is happening. We understand that you may be feeling a range of emotions at hearings. You can ask the chair of the hearing if you need a break.

You might disagree with other people at the hearing. If this happens you should direct your comments to us, not that person.

We will adjourn briefly to think about our decision. We will return to the hearing room so that we can tell you our decision.

We record hearings and make a written transcript. You can ask for a copy of the written transcript.

Hearing adjournments

Sometimes we might adjourn your hearing to a later date. This might be because we want to give a participant time to get more information.

Hearing participants can also ask for an adjournment. We will then decide if an adjournment is appropriate.

Public outcomes of hearing and inquiries

Our hearings are not open to the public. We may decide to make the information about what we're doing available to the public. We may also decide to give information about the outcome of a hearing.

We will tell you and ask for your views if we are:

• thinking about opening a hearing to the public
• publishing the outcome of a hearing.