Official Visitor Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander (Identified)

Official Visitors - or OVs - meet with prisoners to hear and follow up on prisoner complaints. Sometimes, they might need to follow up information with centre staff to find more information to decide on the outcome of the complaint. After considering both sides of a situation, OVs may make a recommendation to prisoners or QCS about how to resolve the issue.

Provide independent and impartial support to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people held in custody at QCS facilities.

Official Visitors are also required to perform other review tasks as required under the  Corrective Services Act 2006. This may include:

• reviewing a decision to make a Consecutive Safety Order;
• reviewing a decision to place a prisoner on a Maximum Security Order;
• overseeing requests from Police to remove a prisoner from a centre for questioning.
• Official Visitors are rostered to attend an adult correctional centre at least once per month. While Official Visitors are appointed and supervised by QCS, OVs provide an independent opinion on QCS decisions. They are paid per completed shift.
• Official Visitors are not advocates for prisoners nor QCS. They act impartially. For  this reason, current employees of the Queensland Government or public service are ineligible for appointment.

Applications to remain current for 12 months.