When the court has imposed a sentence of imprisonment with a non-parole period, the prisoner will become eligible for parole from the date set by the court.
Prisoners should consider their earliest eligibility date for parole, set by the court, as a guide only. The Board will only decide if a prisoner should be released on parole when it has received all relevant information from Community Correctional Services (CCS).
Prisoners should use their time in prison to prepare for parole.
Prisoners must apply for parole in order to be considered by the Board. The Board does not automatically consider prisoners for parole.
The process for the Board to determine whether a prisoner will be granted parole commences up to a year prior to the prisoner’s earliest eligibility date, and up to three years prior for prisoners serving a sentence of more than 10 years.
The main organisations involved in the parole process are Corrections Victoria, CCS, Victoria Police and the Board. The Board is a decision-making body and, based on information made available to it, the Board’s role is to make decisions to grant, deny, cancel or revoke a prisoner’s parole and what conditions to impose or vary.
If you are a victim of crime, including bereaved family members or friends of the direct victim, you can make a submission and have your say about the crime’s impact on you and suggest parole conditions for the Board to consider. You may also be eligible to register with Victims Register, which is independent to the Board, to receive information about the offender.
Use the links in the left hand navigation column to learn about the parole process. A helpful infographic is also available to explain the parole process.
