A.15 Victim Notification (National Policy)

The Department of Corrections is required to notify registered victims of specified events detailed in the Victims' Right Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002.
Victim notification (VNR) Is supported by IOMS VNR, which provides contact details for victims and letter templates for notification services.

There is at least one VNR coordinator responsible for notifications for each prison.
Coordinators:
- Provide notification services to register victims as detailed in the Victims' Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002.
- track and manage victim notification requirements for VNR prisoners in their prison.
Access to VNR records is restricted to approved staff.
Any emergency after-hours access made by on-call staff must be recorded on the coversheet and in victim notes in IOMS.
VNR coordinators are required to notify victims of the following:

Trigger	Actions required
Escape of VNR offenders.	Immediate telephone advice, followed by written notification within 72 hours
Actual release date of VNR offenders who are not eligible for parole.	Written notification at least 4 weeks prior to the date.
Actual release dated of VNR offenders who are released under early Christmas release provisions.	Written notification at least 10 working days prior to the date.
Temporary release and release to work for VNR offenders.	Written notification of temporary releases, including release to work, at least 10 working days prior to the first day of temporary release. Note: Victims are not advised of temporary releases where the VNR offender will be in the company of the Police for the whole period of the temporary release.
VNR offenders who have died in custody.	Telephone notification as soon as the VNR offender's next of kin is informed, followed by written notification within 72 hours of the phone call. If the victims cannot be contacted by phone, written notification as soon as the VNR offender's next of kin is informed.
Offender information for victims under s44 of the Parole Act 2002.	Written notification within 72 hours of receipt of request. (A.15.01.01)

Unit Managers and PCOs must advise the VNR Coordinator whenever a prisoner has one of these events planned so the coordinator can advise the victim within these timeframes.

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