"An Aboriginal man in prison applied to attend his Aunt’s funeral, a deeply significant cultural and spiritual event for him and his family.
The prisoner submitted a request to attend the funeral, but the prison recommended to head office that it decline the request, which it did. The prison gave some reasons to the prisoner, but they were unclear and didn’t reflect the actual grounds for head office’s refusal. This meant the prisoner was unable to properly challenge the decision when he appealed, and head office rejected his appeal.
The prisoner’s mother contacted the Ombudsman, concerned that her son had been unfairly denied the opportunity to fulfil his cultural obligations.
We investigated and found that the reasons given to the prisoner were factually incorrect. We helped clarify the situation between the prison and head office, ensuring accurate information was shared. Once the correct details were exchanged, the prisoner’s application was promptly approved, and he was able to attend his Aunt’s funeral and reconnect with his family and culture. The prison acknowledged it had not clearly communicated the reasons for the initial refusal and committed to improving its practices to prevent this situation again. The prison will develop a process to ensure that reasons for decisions on applications to attend funerals are fully communicated to prisoners, so that prisoners have the necessary information when pursuing an appeal."