About Community Detention Sanctions

Definition

CD sanctions are a form of enforcement for non-compliance with the conditions of CD, which:

• are imposed by the probation officer or senior community work supervisor, and
• do not involve the intervention of the court.

When to use sanctions

Sanctions are used when an offender commits a minor infringement that is not serious enough to warrant breach action or an application for cancellation or variation.

Repeated use of sanctions

It is expected that some offenders will find it difficult to comply with the requirements to reach the curfew address before the start of each curfew, particularly where curfew schedules vary on different days.

There is some tolerance for this aspect of non-compliance, and it may be appropriate to continued to use sanctions if they achieve at least temporary improvements in compliance.

If non-compliance continues, an application should be made to cancel the sentence and substitute it with another sentence of CD with a single curfew schedule (usually a daily curfew).

Service mangers must give approval to continue to use sanctions in the following situations:

• if the offender fails to comply fully with at least two curfew periods after the sanction was used
• if sanctions have been issued three times since the start of the sentence, and
• If sanctions have been issued three times since the service manager last gave approval for sanctions to be used.

Available sanctions

The only sanctions available for CD are formal warnings. These may be either:

• verbal, or
• written.

Formal warnings are used to advise the offender:

• that they are being warned in response to a specific instance of non-compliance, and
• what the possible consequences of any further non-compliance could be (e.g. written warning).

Note: In the future the use of voice verification technology (VVT) may be available as a CD sanction.

Written warnings

Written warnings are used to advise the offender that they are being formally warned in response to a specific instance of non-compliance.

The written warning must include:

• what the non-compliance was
• the date on which it occurred
• if and when a verbal warning has previously been issued for similar non-compliance, and
• the consequences of any further non-compliance (e.g. breach action).

All written warnings issued in relation to non-compliance with CD must be prepared using the CD9 Written Warning Template for Community Detention.

A copy of the written warning should be retained both on the paper file and in IOMS casenotes.

Final warnings 

A written warning does not have to be a "final" warning. However when a letter states that a final warning is issued, and that any further non-compliance will result in breach action, this action should be taken in the event of any further non-compliance.

All final warnings issued in relation to non-compliance with CD must be prepared using the CD10 Final Warning Letter Template for Community Detention.

Any deviation from this course of action will require approval from the service manager.

Important: It is not acceptable to issue multiple "final" warning letters.