Legal and other professional visitors

Arrange a phone call

To arrange a phone call with a person in prison, contact the prison using the relevant email address from the list below.

Arrange an in-person meeting

To arrange an in-person meeting with a person in prison, contact the prison using the relevant email address from the list below.

Attending a prison in person

All visitors are subject to security procedures. For more information about going through security, including the types of body scanner technology used, please refer to Visit a person in prison.

Arrange a video conference

Important notice for Jabber Guest users

Jabber Guest browser software is no longer available for download. Users without the software already installed on their computer must use a smart device (such as a phone or tablet) to attend their conferences.

Legal practitioners and approved professional stakeholders must use AVL Scheduler to book video conferences with people in prison.

This tool was developed by Court Services Victoria and is being used by Corrections Victoria.

The AVL Scheduler system allows people to make and manage their own bookings.

Court hearings will continue to be prioritised.

Video conferences will still take place using stand-alone video conferencing machines or mobile devices (including tablets, smart phones, smart devices or desktop computers with audio and camera capabilities).

Using a mobile device

When on a mobile device, use the Cisco Jabber app. This will automatically download upon activation of the first Jabber Guest URL.

To make a Jabber Guest connection via a PC a browser plugin may be required.

Service providers (non-legal)

If you are a professional service provider, but not registered to use the AVL Scheduler, contact the Video Conferencing Coordination Unit (VCCU) on 1300 160 214 (External link) or vc.prisons@justice.vic.gov.au (External link) to discuss your organisation's suitability to use AVL Scheduler.

If you are not able to use the AVL Scheduler, you can still have access to people in custody. Contact the prison directly using one of the emails below.

How to use AVL Scheduler

Register

To arrange a video conference, you must be a registered user of the AVL Scheduler. To request access please use the below link and choose ‘Request access’ on the next page. Complete and submit the form.

Your request for access will be subject to a verification process by Court Services Victoria or Corrections Victoria. You may be asked to provide evidence supporting your application.

Make a booking

Once you are registered you can use AVL Scheduler to make a booking. You will need to know some details about your client.

You need to provide either:

Justice Accused Identifier (JAID) / Master Name Index (MNI)
Corrections Reference Number (CRN).

In addition to one of the above, you must also provide:

first name
last name
date of birth.

You can use AVL Scheduler to manage your bookings yourself. Most bookings will be confirmed instantly. Some bookings will need approval from the Video Conferencing Coordination Unit (VCCU) before confirmation.

Make a booking with AVL Scheduler (External link)

If you cannot make a booking

If your request relates to a video conference that is time critical for a stood down court matter on the same day, contact the Video Conferencing Coordination Unit (VCCU) on 1300 160 214 (External link).

There are some restrictions on availability. These differ according to location and can be affected by available resources, court demand, and the duration of your request.

If you cannot book for the duration you need, please contact VCCU on 1300 160 214 (External link).

When asking for a legal video conference, legal practitioners should consider that there may be limited access to video conferencing. Contact the prison via the emails below to book a phone call or attend the prison for an in-person visit.

If you do not know the location of the person you wish to speak with, you can email VCCU (External link) who will refer the request to the applicable prison on your behalf.

Help and troubleshooting

Account set up

If you are a Victorian legal business, send your requests for help with AVL Scheduler account set up or management to Court Services Victoria via email at avl-scheduler-support@courts.vic.gov.au (External link)

Creating or managing a prisoner conference

Victorian legal businesses with questions about a prisoner conference can call the Video Conferencing Coordination Unit (VCCU) on 1300 160 214 (External link).

Using Cisco Jabber Guest

A troubleshooting guide for Cisco Jabber Guest is available for your support.

Other queries

Please send all other AVL Scheduler queries to vc.prisons@justice.vic.gov.au (External link).

Arrange a medico-legal assessment

Legal professionals who require to arrange a medico-legal assessment to occur for a client in custody can do so via the below methods:

Medico-legal assessments via video conference

You can now book in via our AVL Scheduler, please note that the practitioner who will be conducting the assessment will need to register to use AVL Scheduler. The VCCU via vc.prisons@justice.vic.gov.au (External link) will assist them with making an account so they can arrange the assessment.

Please note that the practitioner will be required to provide documentation to verify their identity.

Medico-legal assessments in-person at the prison

These assessments can be facilitated as a face-to-face assessment via the professional contact process. Once the medical professional is registered as a visitor and has approval to enter the prison, location staff can book in the professional contact visits in a private room. Please contact the prison directly using the relevant email address from the list below.

Medico-legal assessment at an external location

If the person in prison is required to attend the practitioner's clinic to conduct the assessment, you will need to contact the prison location directly using one of the email addresses below to arrange this process. Please be advised that any cost associated with the external escort of the person in prison will be payable by the person in prison.