We prioritise complaints that are urgent. Urgent means it needs immediate action. For example, if someone is at risk of immediate or significant harm.
Complaints must be made within one year of the event you are complaining about.
Explore the protections available for people in prison to gain a better understanding of human rights, discrimination, sexual harassment, vilification and victimisation in prison.
Complaints
In most cases you cannot get financial compensation if you are complaining about something that happened in prison, but you could get agreement to resolve the issue.
STEP 1: Make an internal complaint
First you must make a complaint to the prison (an ‘internal complaint’). This gives the prison a chance to resolve the issue.
In exceptional circumstances (e.g. if you are at risk of harm), send your complaint straight to us.
Write down your complaint and include:
- the date or dates the issue happened
- who was there
- what happened.
Put your letter in a blue envelope to ensure it is kept private.
Who to address your complaint to
For complaints about general prison management (e.g., how you’re treated or about a service offered to you in prison like a health service or food), address your complaint to: Chief Superintendent, Queensland Corrective Services.
For complaints about your placement (e.g., if you think you should be in a different prison) or security classification, address your complaint to: Chief Superintendent, Sentence Management, Queensland Corrective Services.
Proving you made a complaint
We recommend that you ask for a copy of your complaint or write out a second copy yourself. You should also make note of who you gave your complaint to and the date and time you gave it to them.
These records will help you to remember when you made the complaint and what happened.
Timeframe
You must wait until 9 weeks (45 business days) has passed to see if the prison fixes the problem. If they don’t fix the problem or if they don’t respond, then you can make a complaint to us.
STEP 2: Make your complaint to us
If your complaint is not resolved by the Chief Superintendent in 9 weeks (45 business days), send your complaint to us.
Tell us the date you made the internal complaint and include a copy if you have one. Otherwise, write out your complaint again.
The complaint can be sent to this address:
Queensland Human Rights Commission
PO Box 15565
City East Q 4002
Sent by email: enquiries@qhrc.qld.gov.au
Or lodged online: https://www.qhrc.qld.gov.au/complaints/make-a-complaint
Help to make a complaint
If you need help making a complaint, you can use the prisoner phone system to contact:
- us/our Commission
- Legal Aid Queensland
- Prisoners Legal Service.
Immigration detention
For human rights concerns regarding immigration detention, contact the:
These places of detention are not run by the state of Queensland.