- Published:
- Friday 14 March 2025 at 9:10 pm
The Centre for Innovative Justice conducted a review into our remand services and made a number of recommendations. One recommendation was to establish a lived-experience group to help inform how we run our remand services.
The review also recommended a new remand service be established to meet the non-legal needs of people being remanded at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
The Remand Support Service is an integrated approach to responding to both legal and non-legal needs of people on remand appearing at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
Non-legal needs of people remanded in custody can include:
- arranging care for children, other family members and pets
- communication with family
- access to medication
- health care.
We know that it is very challenging for people to engage with lawyers and the court process if these non-legal needs are not addressed.
The two-year service pilot will have lawyers and remand support practitioners working together at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to meet the needs of people arrested and held in custody.
Expertise is needed to help improve remand services
People with lived experience of being on remand have important expertise and insights to share about our services including the new remand support service.
We want to hear from people with lived experience of being remanded into a prison or police cell in Australia but now living in Victoria. About 8-9 people will join the panel to advise our Criminal law Directorate.
Panel members will be residents of Victoria and will be paid an allowance for their time, commitment and travel expenses. All panel members will be asked to attend meetings about every two months at our offices at 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne. The time commitment required for each meeting will be an hour of pre-reading and two-hour meetings. We are ideally seeking a two-year commitment.
What kind of support will members receive?
Our senior lived-experience consultant in Summary Crime will lead the group and can provide some support to individual members. There is also scope for members to bring support workers to the group if needed.
First Nations people are encouraged to reach out to us directly at LEAP@vla.vic.gov.au or email Associate Director Courtney McGann from First Nations Services at courtney.mcgann@vla.vic.gov.au
Contact us to learn more
We want to hear from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, including those with a disability, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, LGBTQIA+ communities, and those who have experienced family violence, mental health issues, or alcohol and substance use and a range of other experiences.
To learn more, register for our upcoming information session at 1.30–2.30 pm, 24 March 2025.
If you are interested in participating, please complete the expression of interest form by 6 pm, 4 April 2025. The information you provide on this form is private and will be stored securely.
If you need more information or help to complete this form, please email our Senior Lived-Experience Consultant Glenn Broome at LEAP@vla.vic.gov.au or call (03) 9280 3790 during office hours.
Use of feedback and information
If you participate in the group, your privacy will be protected and any content you provide as part of LEAP activities will be de-identified and only used with your written consent and in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and the Legal Aid Act 1978. For more information, refer to our privacy policy.
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