In the Northern Territory, decisions about parole are made by the NT Parole Board under the Parole Act 1971. This page deals with applying for parole in the NT.
What is parole?
Parole is the conditional release into the community of a prisoner who has not yet finished serving their sentence. If granted parole, the prisoner continues to serve their sentence under supervision in the community. If they breach the conditions of parole or commit a further offence, they are likely to be returned to prison to serve the rest of their sentence as full-time imprisonment.
Non-parole periods
When a court in the NT sentences an offender to more than 12 months imprisonment that is not wholly or partially suspended, it must impose a non-parole period. The non-parole period must not be less than 50% of the term of imprisonment.
A non-parole period is the date on which the person becomes eligible to be released on parole.
Some criminal offences attract mandatory minimum non-parole periods. For instance, a court that finds a person guilty of murder in the NT must impose a life sentence with a non-parole period of not less than 20 years.
In the NT, some drug offences and sexual offences have a mandatory minimum non-parole period of 70% of the term that the court imposes.
Applying for parole
Applications for parole are made to the NT Parole Board. This is the case regardless of whether the prisoner is an adult serving time in prison, or a young person serving time in youth detention.
A person can apply for parole eight months before the date they reach the end of their non-parole period. The Parole Board will consider the application two months prior to the non-parole period ending. In the meantime, a Corrections officer will have been working with the prisoner on a release plan. This will include information such as where the person proposes to live and work and what support they will need.
If parole is refused, another application can be made at any time. However, the prisoner must show that there has been a change in circumstances since they last applied.
Decisions about parole
The Board makes decisions about parole based on a number of considerations including the prisoner’s circumstances, the safety of the community and the views of any victims.
Conditions
When a person is released on parole in the NT, there are eight standard conditions that attach to the order.
These are:
- to be of good behaviour and not commit another offence
- to be supervised by a Corrections Officer and obey their reasonable directions
- to report to Corrections and be available for interviews as directed
- not to leave the Territory without written permission
- to live at an agreed address and notify Corrections of any intention to move
- to enter into employment as agreed with the Corrections Officer and notify them of any intent to change employment
- not to contact persons specified by the Corrections Officer
- not to frequent places specified by the Corrections Officer
Further conditions may also be attached to a person’s parole order depending on their situation.
Contraventions
If a person contravenes the conditions of their parole order, the Parole Board may:
- give them a warning
- impose new conditions
- revoke their parole.
When parole is revoked, the prisoner is arrested and brought before a court. The court will commit them to prison or detention to serve the remainder of their sentence. This means that the person will have to serve the balance of the term that remained on the date they were granted parole. The period they have spent living in the community on parole will not be taken into account.
Submissions
In some cases, when a person applies for parole the Board may invite members of the public to make submissions about the matter. This may include victims of the offence and – where the offender is Indigenous – members of their community.
If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Taylor Rose.
