A standalone legal service is needed to address the “significant unmet needs” of people in prison, particularly women, trans and gender diverse people, according to a new report.
The Dignity Behind Bars report, a joint project between the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) and Flat Out, is based on first-hand accounts of people with lived experience of incarceration and service providers.
It scopes the need for a dedicated legal service for women, trans and gender diverse people in Victorian prisons.
“Every person should be able to challenge mistreatment and hold authorities accountable when their rights are violated,” HRLC First Nations Justice Director Maggie Munn said.
“But right now, too many women, trans and gender diverse people in prison are being denied access to the legal help they need. A dedicated legal service would help ensure people can enforce their rights and challenge abuses behind prison walls, starting with critical issues like solitary confinement and parole.”
There is no standalone legal service for people in prison in the state, although many legal centres provide some assistance to incarcerated people.
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) provides free legal advice to First Nations people who have experienced harms due to the actions of police or prison authorities through its Wirraway Police and Prison Accountability Practice.
Wirraway provides legal advice, helps with bringing complaints and court proceedings and acts for families in coronial inquests into deaths in custody.
Fitzroy Legal Service has a Prison Legal Service, a statewide program aiming to uphold the rights of people in prison, and Victoria Legal Aid also assists people in prison with some matters.
The only dedicated, standalone prison service in Australia is the Prisoners’ Legal Service (PLS) in Queensland, which has operated since 1985 and receives funding from the state and federal governments.
The Cultural Review of the Adult Custodial Correction System in Victoria, handed down in 2022, recommended the establishment of a dedicated and independent advice service for people in custody.
The state government has not committed to implementing this recommendation..
“The Victorian government was told four years ago that people in prison need access to dedicated and independent legal support,” Munn said.
“It’s time to act now.”
The report identifies several key issues that the legal service would focus on: solitary confinement and lockdowns, access to healthcare, parole and family and connectedness.
“Any potential dedicated or standalone legal service must grapple with these issues and work towards dismantling the systems that have created them,” the report said.
“It is clear that whether a service is dedicated or standalone, it must be guided by principles of decarceration and care.”
The report identified “significant gaps” in the current legal support offered to people in prison in Victoria.
“Given the number of women, trans and gender diverse people in prison across Victoria, the number of prison law issues we have identified and the complexity of these issues, we are looking at serious levels of currently unmet legal need,” it said.
The Prisoners’ Legal Service in Queensland demonstrates the huge level of need for this service around the country.
In 2024–25, PLS provided nearly 7000 services to just under 1500 clients. The community legal centre also operates a free advice line for people in prison, and this received more than 55,000 calls in the same year, an increase of 150 per cent from 2022–23.
Due to a lack of resourcing, more than 53,000 of these calls went unanswered.
The legal service would need to place lived experience at the centre, and would primarily provide assistance via a phone line, along with in-person visits and clinics.
“Care is the antidote,” a participant at a roundtable for the report said.
The report acknowledges that the majority of people in prison are men, and that improved legal services are also needed for them.
“Alongside advocacy from men inside, systemic law reform and advocacy efforts centred on the experiences of women, trans and gender diverse people in prison have had some flow on effects for men in prison,” the report said.
“However, we regret that the parameters of this project have not allowed us to scope the urgent, unmet legal needs of men in prison. It is hoped that scoping and taking steps to meet that legal need will happen in the future.”
The HRLC and Flat Out report also urged the Victorian government to provide dedicated funding for VALS’s Wirraway Police and Prison Accountability Practice.
The report identifies several key issues that the legal service would focus on: solitary confinement and lockdowns, access to healthcare, parole and family and connectedness.
“Any potential dedicated or standalone legal service must grapple with these issues and work towards dismantling the systems that have created them,” the report said.
“It is clear that whether a service is dedicated or standalone, it must be guided by principles of decarceration and care.”
The report identified “significant gaps” in the current legal support offered to people in prison in Victoria.
“Given the number of women, trans and gender diverse people in prison across Victoria, the number of prison law issues we have identified and the complexity of these issues, we are looking at serious levels of currently unmet legal need,” it said.
The Prisoners’ Legal Service in Queensland demonstrates the huge level of need for this service around the country.
In 2024–25, PLS provided nearly 7000 services to just under 1500 clients. The community legal centre also operates a free advice line for people in prison, and this received more than 55,000 calls in the same year, an increase of 150 per cent from 2022–23.
Due to a lack of resourcing, more than 53,000 of these calls went unanswered.
The legal service would need to place lived experience at the centre, and would primarily provide assistance via a phone line, along with in-person visits and clinics.
“Care is the antidote,” a participant at a roundtable for the report said.
The report acknowledges that the majority of people in prison are men, and that improved legal services are also needed for them.
“Alongside advocacy from men inside, systemic law reform and advocacy efforts centred on the experiences of women, trans and gender diverse people in prison have had some flow on effects for men in prison,” the report said.
“However, we regret that the parameters of this project have not allowed us to scope the urgent, unmet legal needs of men in prison. It is hoped that scoping and taking steps to meet that legal need will happen in the future.”
The HRLC and Flat Out report also urged the Victorian government to provide dedicated funding for VALS’s Wirraway Police and Prison Accountability Practice.
