Transfer of Parole

Interstate

Pursuant to the Parole Orders (Transfers) Act 1984 (WA), any prisoner on parole who wishes to either serve their parole period of continue to serve their parole permanently in another State or Territory, may apply to for an interstate transfer of their current parole order or potential future parole order. Western Australian prisoners or parolees may apply to transfer their parole order to any other state or territory just as prisoners or parolees in other states and territories may also apply to transfer their parole orders to Western Australia.

Eligibility

Any prisoner can apply for an interstate transfer of their parole. Determinations to approve the transfer are made based on whether it is in the prisoner’s best interest. For example, if the prisoner has no supports in the State or Territory they wish to transfer their parole to (no accommodation, no employment, no community programmes or counselling etc), an interstate transfer of parole would not be in the prisoner’s best interest.

All Interstate Transfer of Parole applications both out of and into Western Australia, are dealt with by the Attorney General in a formal capacity known as the Minister's Delegate for Interstate Transfers of Parole (Minister’s Delegate). Interstate Transfer of Parole Applications must be made through a Community Corrections Officer (CCO). It is the CCO, not the prisoner, who will provide the completed Interstate Transfer of Parole Application to the Minister's Delegate, at the Prisoners Review Board, for consideration.

An Interstate Transfer of Parole Application must be approved by both the ‘sending’ State or Territory and the ’receiving’ State or Territory the prisoner/parolee wishes to relocate their parole to.

Criteria

Prisoners or parolees must meet the following criteria in order to apply for an interstate transfer of parole:

• No outstanding appeals in relation to their current sentence.
• No outstanding breaches of their current sentence/parole.
• The prisoner/parolee must be willing to comply with any parole transfer conditions or rules set by the State or Territory they wish to transfer to.

Information on the rules of a particular State or Territory can be supplied by a community corrections officer.

Application process

There are three main steps in the interstate transfer of parole process:

• The Interstate Transfer of Parole Application will be produced and submitted by Adult Community Corrections to the Minister’s Delegate.
• The application will be denied or approved.
• If the application to transfer parole is approved, the parolee will relocate and thereafter their parole order will be registered in the receiving State or Territory, completing the interstate transfer of parole process.

All applications for interstate transfer of parole, both into and out of Western Australia, are dealt with by the Attorney General in a formal capacity known as the Minister's Delegate.  

If an application is approved, the prisoner/parolee’s CCO arranges a date for the prisoner/parolee to relocate and report in the receiving State or Territory. Once the parolee has relocated and reported to their new CCO in the receiving State or Territory, their parole order is now registered in that new State or Territory. The parolee becomes subject to all the parole and supervision requirements of the receiving State or Territory. 

The parole process and supervision requirements in the new State or Territory may be different than those in Western Australia.

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 or Territory Legislation;
• Programs 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 or Territory legislation.

In addition, if the prisoner/parolee is a registered sex offender, their details will be transferred to the register of the State or 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 and whilst on parole will need to attend their new local police station in their new State or Territory to advise that they have transferred interstate.

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

If an application is declined, the applicant is provided with the reasons for the decision.

What factors are taken into account when considering an Interstate Transfer of Parole Application?

By law, the primary consideration of the Minister’s Delegate when reviewing an Interstate Transfer of Parole Application, is whether the interstate transfer of parole is considered to be in the best interests of the prisoner/parolee. The Minister's Delegate takes into account information such as support available to the prisoner/parolee in the State or Territory, employment prospects there and any victim issues applicable in the new State or Territory. 

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 and 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: 3-Sep-2021

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