What is the Remand Support Service?
When someone is first taken into custody after being arrested, our duty lawyers are usually their first contact with the outside world. The Remand Support Service is a small team of remand support practitioners with experience supporting people in the justice system.
This team works alongside lawyers to help address clients’ immediate non-legal needs. This can include:
- organising medical treatment
- contacting friends, family, or employers
- arranging for children to be collected from school
- arranging care for pets
- linking to other support services.
Without these needs being addressed, it is very challenging for people to engage with lawyers and the court process.
Who we can help
The remand support service is currently available for:
- clients of our remand lawyers (including barristers briefed by Victoria Legal Aid)
- clients of Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
- unrepresented clients.
With their consent, clients on first remand at the Melbourne Custody Centre are referred to the remand support service by their Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service or Victoria Legal Aid duty lawyer. They can also be seen by a remand support practitioner without referral if they are unable to engage with their duty lawyer.
Supporting clients to engage in their legal process
The team works in close collaboration with lawyers to support and enable clients’ participation in the legal process.
Remand support practitioners are experts in trauma-informed practice and are trained in providing emotional and practical support for people who may be facing a loss of agency and feel distressed.
The service aims to foster agency, safety and understanding of the system for people on first remand, providing them with the support and information they need to better advocate for themselves in their legal process and personal lives.
Responding to client need
The Remand Support Service was established as a result of the independent review of our remand services by the Centre for Innovative Justice at RMIT. A key recommendation in the review was to establish a service that responds to both the legal and non-legal needs of people remanded in custody.
The service is piloted for two years to June 2027. During this time we can adapt our service model to best suit the needs of people on remand. We will gather insights through consultation with our Lived Experience Advisory Panel, duty lawyers and other stakeholders, and while working with people on remand at the Melbourne Custody Centre. This will inform the evolution of our service.
Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP)
The Centre for Innovative Justice review into our remand services recommended that people with lived experience of remand should help inform how we run our remand services.
LEAP was established in May 2025. The panel is made up of 12 people with lived experience of remand. These experts provide intersectional insights into their experience of remand. They come with first-hand knowledge of how we have provided support to people on remand.
LEAP members share their ideas on how improvements can be made to this support and to the wider justice system. The panel works alongside our summary crime team and is led by Senior Lived Experience Consultant, Glenn Broome. The Remand Support Service pilot is a current focus for the panel.
For more information on LEAP, please email LEAP@vla.vic.gov.au.
How we can help
The service can help clients on first remand at the Melbourne Custody Centre in a number of ways, including:
- contacting family and friends
- advocacy with court-based services – Court Integrated Services Program (CISP) and Custody Health Nurse
- referrals to other services and supports
- providing legal information
- helping clients understand what has happened and any bail conditions
- responding to highly emotional clients with a trauma-informed practice.
Contact the Remand Support Service
Email us at RSS@vla.vic.gov.au for more information about our service.
More information
Updated