Professional video calls and conferences with prisoners

Legal practitioners and approved professionals

Legal practitioners and approved professional stakeholders can now use AVL Scheduler to make their bookings for video contact with a prisoner.

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 calls and 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).

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.

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

Arrange contact

Register with AVL Scheduler

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.

Register with AVL Scheduler (External link)

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 all the following information:

• 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 conference that is time critical for a stood down court matter on the same day, contact the 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.

When asking for a legal video conference, legal practitioners should consider that there may be limited access to video conferencing. Contact the prison to book a telephone call or attend the prison in person for a professional visit.

Prison contact details for booking a phone conference can be found below on this page. If you do not know the location of the prisoner you wish to speak with, you can email VCCU who will refer the request to the applicable prison on your behalf.

Help using AVL Scheduler

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 VCCU on 1300 160 214 (External link)

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 Video Conferencing Coordination Unit (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 they 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 location directly using the below details on this page to arrange.

Medico-legal assessment at an external location

If the prisoner is required to attend the practitioners clinic to conduct the assessment, you will need to contact the prison location directly to arrange this process. Please be advised that any cost associated with the external escort of the prisoner will be payable by the prisoner themselves.

Service providers (non-legal)

If you are a professional service provider, but not registered to use the AVL Scheduler, contact the VCCU 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 to arrange this. You can find prison contact details below.

Do not contact the VCCU for these requests. Court matters, such as court ordered assessments, should be booked through the AVL Scheduler.

Barwon Prison

barwonrecords@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Beechworth Correctional Centre

beechworth.records@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Dame Phyllis Frost Centre 

dpfcoffenderservices@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Dhurringile Prison

Dhurringile.programs@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Fulham Correctional Centre

fulhamassesstransit@geogroup.com.au (External link)

Hopkins Correctional Centre 

hopkinsrecords@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Judy Lazarus Transition Centre

jltc@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Karreenga Prison

karreenga.records@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Langi Kal Kal Prison

lkkrecords.property@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Loddon Prison (including Middleton)

DJCS-CV-LoddonTeleconferencing@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Marngoneet Correctional Centre

Marngoneet.records@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Melbourne Assessment Prison (MAP)

map.assessment.transition.coordinators@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)
or
map.offenderservicesunit@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Metropolitan Remand Centre (MRC)

mrc.atc@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Port Phillip Prison

pppatc@au.g4s.com (External link)

Ravenhall Correctional Centre

RCC-Teleconferencing@geogroup.com.au (External link)

Tarrengower Prison

tarrengower.admin@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)