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Prisoners Review Board of Western Australia

Government of Western Australia State Coat of Arms
Prisoners Review Board of Western Australia

Home →Parole→Interstate Prison or Parole Transfers

Interstate Prison or Parole Transfers

What is and who can make an Interstate Parole Transfer?

Pursuant to the Parole Orders (Transfer) Act 1984 (WA), any parolee who wishes to serve either their entire parole period or part of their parole period permanently in another State or Territory, can apply for an interstate transfer of their current Parole Order. Alternatively, a prisoner who has an upcoming parole hearing date, but who is yet to be granted parole, can still apply for an interstate transfer of their future potential Parole Order.

Western Australian (WA) prisoners or parolees can apply to transfer their Parole Order to any other State or Territory, just as prisoners or parolees in other States or Territories can also apply to transfer their Parole Order to WA.

When can a WA prisoner/parolee submit an ‘outgoing’ Interstate Application?

At the earliest, an Interstate Transfer of Parole Application can be submitted for consideration three to four months prior to an applicant’s Earliest Eligibility Date, right up until three months prior to the applicant’s sentence maximum date.

Applicants must also meet the following criteria in order to seek an interstate transfer:

  • have no outstanding appeals in relation to the sentence they wish to transfer;
  • have no outstanding breach action in relation to the sentence they wish to transfer; and
  • comply with any parole transfer rules/conditions set by the jurisdiction they want to transfer to.

Information on the rules/legislation of a particular State or Territory can be supplied by the applicants Community Corrections Officer.

Who considers the applicant’s Interstate Transfer of Parole Application?

All Interstate Transfer of Parole Applications, both in and out of WA, are considered by the Minister's Delegate for Interstate Transfers of Parole; the Attorney General being the relevant minister who has delegated his authority to the ‘Minister’s Delegate’ here at the Board.

The Minister's Delegate takes into account information such as support available to the applicant in the new location, employment prospects there and victim issues applicable in the new State or Territory. The main consideration regarding the approval of a transfer is based on whether it is in the applicant’s best interest. For example, if the applicant has no support in the State/Territory they wish to transfer their parole to (e.g. they have never resided in that State/Territory, or they have no accommodation, employment, community support etc), an interstate transfer of parole would be deemed not in the best interest of the applicant.

The initial Application Process and Submission

An Interstate Transfer of Parole Application must be completed with the assistance of Adult Community Corrections, as the initial application comprises of two sections:

  • The Offender Application Form – the part of the application the applicant completes; and
  • The Departmental Application Form – the part of the application Adult Community Corrections will complete.

Adult Community Corrections, not the applicant, will then provide the completed application to the Minister’s Delegate at the Board for consideration.

Application Processes and Timeline

An Interstate Transfer of Parole Application must be approved by both the State/Territory in which the applicant currently resides and the State/Territory the applicant wishes to relocate their parole to. If an application is declined, the applicant is provided with the reasons for the decision.

The ‘receiving’ State/Territory has up to three months to consider an Interstate Transfer of Parole Application from the date it receives the application.

The following is a very basic breakdown of the process of the ‘outgoing’ interstate transfer of parole process (e.g. from WA to Victoria):

  1. The Interstate Transfer of Parole Application will be completed and submitted by Adult Community Corrections to the Minister’s Delegate for consideration.
  2. The Minister’s Delegate will approve or decline whether the application should be sent to the ‘receiving’ State (ie Victoria) for consideration, and if approved;
  3. The application will be considered, and then denied or approved by that State’s/Territory’s decision authority, and if approved;
  4. The applicant will relocate to that State/Territory to complete their parole period. The applicant’s WA Parole Order will be registered in the receiving State/Territory. This action completes the interstate transfer of parole process.

Once the applicant’s Parole Order is registered in the new State/Territory, the parolee becomes subject to all parole and supervision requirements as per the receiving State’s/Territory’s legislation. The parole process and supervision requirements in the new State/Territory may be different than those in WA. Examples of possible differences include, but are not limited to:

  • How often the applicant is required to report;
  • Conditions of the applicant’s Parole Order due to different State/Territory legislation;
  • Programmes the applicant will be required to attend;
  • The breach process and outcome of breach action; and
  • The possibility of the parolee’s supervision being extended due to differing State/Territory legislation.

Transfer of Registry (Sex Offender) Details

If the prisoner/parolee is a registered sex offender, their details will be transferred to the register of the State/Territory they wish to transfer to.

If the prisoner/parolee is a registered child sex offender, their details will remain on a national register administered by the Police. Whilst on parole they will need to attend their new local Police station in their new State/Territory to advise that they have transferred interstate.

Transferring a Parole Order back to the original State/Territory

Once a Parole Order is registered in the receiving State/Territory, the parolee cannot return to the State/Territory from which they came without submitting a new Interstate Transfer of Parole Application.

International prison or parole transfers

By law, prisoners with a minimum of six months of their sentence remaining can apply for transfer from an Australian prison to a prison in another country to serve the remainder of their sentence.

Further information regarding this process will need to be sought from the Corrective Services division of the Department of Justice.

Alternatively a parolee can apply for an international parole transfer, however, this can only occur depending on the requirements of the country to which they seek to transfer to.

Not all foreign countries with which Australia has an agreement with allow parolees to transfer their parole under the International Transfer of Prisoners Scheme.

The International Transfer of Prisoners Act 1997 is a commonwealth law and therefore, the Prisoners Review Board cannot process an international transfer of parole application or request.

For more information on the international transfer of prisoners and the legislation involved, visit the Federal Attorney General’s website.


Last updated: 8 April 2025

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