Duty solicitors are responsible for visiting the prisons to offer advice on a wide range of matters. Yatala Labour Prison, the Adelaide Remand Centre and Port Augusta Prison are visited every week. The Adelaide Women’s Prison is visited fortnightly. Prisoners from the Mobilong Prison who request advice are contacted through audio visual link as required. Otherwise the Mobilong Prison and James Nash House are visited as required, by other solicitors from the Legal Services Commission’s Criminal Law Practice Division rather than the regular duty solicitors. All solicitors visiting South Australian prisons can be guided by the Professional Visits Guide.
Queries from prisoners range from advice about a pending criminal matter or about help to arrange representation, to family law issues like trying to arrange contact with children while in prison, and issues about the prison system itself, such as tracing missing property or attending an impending hearing before a visiting justice. Other issues may include child protection, victims of crime and civil law matters [see Sentencing chapter]. The advice provided by duty solicitors is limited to criminal related matters, however the Advice Section of the Commission provides a separate prison advice service with staff visiting the prisons to offer advice on a wide range of non-criminal matters including family law, child support and child protection.
See also the Law Handbook topic on PRISONERS.
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Sometimes duty solicitors will be able to answer a question on the spot. If not, they should make sure that they follow up the matter and send an answer to the prisoner by letter, or contact the prisoner personally by way of a quick visit next time they attend the prison (as long as this is not too far into the future). Duty solicitors should remember that they are often the only person who can help prisoners with matters “on the outside”. Duty solicitors should note that it can be frustrating for prisoners not to be able to arrange their own affairs because of restrictions on using the phone and lack of resources. |
There are a number of metropolitan and country prisons in South Australia as follows:
Adelaide Remand Centre (ARC)
The Adelaide Remand Centre (ARC) is privately managed and operated by Serco, and accommodates male high security remand and sentenced prisoners.
Yatala Labour Prison
The Yatala Labour Prison is the metropolitan induction and reception prison for remand and/or sentenced adult male prisoners. It is a medium to high security prison, but also accommodates low security prisoners.
Adelaide Women's Prison
The Adelaide Women's Prison is part of the Northfield Prison complex, formerly known as the the Northfield Women's Prison or the Women's Rehabilitation Centre. This prison accommodates women on remand and women serving sentences of imprisonment.
Cadell Training Centre
The Cadell Training Centre is a low security adult male prison farm in the Riverland.
Port Lincoln Prison
Mobilong Prison
The Mobilong Prison accommodates medium and low security adult male prisoners.
Port Augusta Prison
Mount Gambier Prison
Adelaide Pre-Release Centre
The Adelaide Pre-Release Centre is part of the Northfield Prison complex and accommodates both male and female low security prisoners.
For information regarding these prisons see the Department for Correctional Services - Prisons website.
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Legal Services acknowledges Aboriginal people as the Traditional Owners and ongoing occupants of the lands and waters in South Australia and we respect their spiritual, cultural and heritage beliefs. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community and pay our deep respect to Elders past and present.
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