Prison Officers

Who can make an application?

A WA prison officer can make an appeal to the Commission under section 106 of the Prisons Act 1981 (WA) against the decision of the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Justice to take removal action against them.

Submitting an appeal

To submit an appeal, you must fill in a Form 8C – Notice of Appeal or Referral (Other Matters), and lodge three copies in the Registry of the Commission in person, by online lodgement, email or by post.

The appeal must be filed within 28 days of the date of the decision of the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Justice.

Process

A copy of the filed Form 8C with the appeal number and the stamp of the Commission will be returned to the appellant for their records. The Registry will send a copy of the Form 8C to the Chief Executive Officer. Then:

  • The Chief Executive Officer is to file a Form 4 - Response (General) within 28 days of receiving the Form. 
  • The Commission may recommend the parties endeavour to resolve the matter in a conciliation.
  • If the matter is not listed for a conciliation or remains unresolved after a conciliation, the Commission may then list the appeal for hearing.

Providing evidence

If there is no request for conciliation, then within 14 days of the response being served, the Chief Executive Officer is to file three copies of every document relied upon by the Chief Executive Officer in the appellant’s case. Within 14 days of receiving these documents, the appellant is to file three copies of every document relied upon by the appellant.

Tendering new evidence

Section 108 of the Prisons Act 1981 (WA) means that the appeal is to be heard and determined on the basis of the following documents —
(a) a document or other material that was examined and taken into account by the chief executive officer in making the removal decision;
(b) the notice given under section 102(1);
(c) a written submission made to the chief executive officer by the prison officer under section 102(2);
(d) a decision notice;
(e) a notification of the removal.

If an appellant or the Chief Executive Officer wants the Commission to take into account any other document or evidence, they will need to ask the Commission for permission (called ‘seeking leave’) to tender new evidence.

The appellant can seek leave to tender new evidence by completing a Form 1C - Application (no other specified form) and attaching to it a copy of the new evidence which the appellant is seeking leave to tender.

The Commission is able to decide whether leave should be given only if it is aware of the substance of the new evidence. If the new evidence comes in the form of a document, the Commission is able to assess its content. In case the evidence that is sought to be tendered is the oral evidence of a witness, the Commission needs to be informed of the substance of the new evidence, which can be done by a written statement or affidavit by the witness.

Note that section 108 of the Prisons Act 1981 (WA) imposes conditions on granting leave to tender new evidence.

Possible outcomes

The Commission can uphold the decision of the Chief Executive Officer, or order that the removal from office is to be taken to have always been of no effect and reinstate the officer.

In circumstances where reinstatement is not practical, the Commission may order that the officer be compensated. However, that compensation must not exceed the equivalent of 12 months of the officer’s salary.