Please also refer to the general information about visiting a prisoner which is the same for all prisons in Victoria. This includes details of how to arrange to visit a prisoner for the first time, what identification you will need to take with you and what you cannot take into prisons.
Getting there
Melbourne Assessment Prison is on the corner of Spencer and La Trobe Streets in the Melbourne Central Business District. It is 250m north of Southern Cross Station and is accessible by trams travelling along Spencer and La Trobe Streets.
Visiting times
To visit a prisoner as a personal visitor, you must be on their approved list (refer to Arranging a visit in the general information for prison visitors). Once you are on the list, you can visit at any of the times below.
Professional or police visitors are advised to contact the prison for information about applying for a visit.
Visits are not conducted on Christmas Day or Good Friday.
Contact visits
| Mainstream & Acute Assessment Unit (AAU) Mainstream prisoners | ||
| Sunday | 8.30am–1.00pm | Children permitted |
| Wednesday | 9am–1.15pm | Children permitted |
| 1.30pm–3.30pm | Adults only | |
| Saturday | 12.30pm–3.30pm | Adults only |
| Unit 9, 10 & AAU Protection prisoners | ||
| Sunday | 2.30pm–3.30pm | Children permitted |
| Saturday | 8.30am–10.30am | Adults only |
| Unit 8 prisoners | ||
| Sunday | 1.15pm–2.15pm | Children permitted |
| Saturday | 10.45am–12.15pm | Adults only |
Visits last about one hour.
The last visit commences at 3pm.
Up to three adult visitors and a reasonable number of children are able to visit a prisoner on child contact visit times.
Prisoners are entitled to one contact visit per week. The week starts on Sunday.
Non-contact (box) visits
| Mainstream & AAU Mainstream prisoners | |
| Sunday | 8.30am–1.00pm |
| Monday, Wednesday, Thursday | 8.30am–3.30pm |
| Tuesday | 11.15am-3.30pm |
| Friday | 8.30am–11.00am |
| Saturday | 12.30pm–3.30pm |
| Unit 8,9, 10 & Protection prisoners | |
| Sunday | 1.15pm–3.30pm |
| Tuesday | 9.30am–11.00am |
| Saturday | 8.30am–12.15pm |
The last visit commences at 3pm.
If a prisoner you are visiting is ineligible for contact visits, they may have just one visit for one hour per week. For all other prisoners, box visits last about 30 minutes.
Prisoners are able to have a box visit on the days and hours outlined in the table above except on the day that they have a contact visit.
During box visits, no touching is possible – there is a glass partition that separates you from the person you are visiting and all speaking is done through an intercom. Seating for two adult visitors is available.
Prison profile
Melbourne Assessment Prison is a maximum security facility providing the primary statewide assessment and orientation services for male prisoners received into the prison system.
Security level
Maximum
Operational capacity
305 (30 June 2019)
Accommodation
Melbourne Assessment Prison comprises units with different roles or functions such as protection or workforce and the Acute Assessment Unit, a 15-bed, secondary psychiatric facility catering for all of the state's male prisoners. Where possible, prisoners with similar status, such as 'remanded' or 'sentenced', are accommodated together.
History
Planning for the Melbourne Assessment Prison began in 1974, with construction commencing in December 1983. The prison was completed in 1989 at a cost of $80 million. It was officially opened on 6 April 1989 by the then Premier of Victoria and received its first prisoners on 29 May 1989. Initially known as the Melbourne Remand Centre, the prison was originally built to accommodate remand prisoners. In 1997 the prison became the reception prison for all male prisoners in Victoria and was renamed the Melbourne Assessment Prison.