---
title: "Authority for a lawyer to act for a person in custody"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/custody-client-authority"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a21-custody-client-authority"
area_id: "A21"
kind: "form"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A21-IN20261023-17"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-23"
---

# Authority for a lawyer to act for a person in custody

> A short authority the person in custody can sign so the firm may arrange contact with the prison and receive non-medical information about where they are. It is not a medical release.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/custody-client-authority  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-23

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Form. A form to complete, or a guide to completing an official one.
- Practice area: [Personal Injury & Compensation](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation.md)
- Jurisdictions: Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-23
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-23 against the 4 authorities it cites, for Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.

## When to use it

Use when the person in custody can sign, so the firm can tell the centre it acts and can arrange the conference. Do not use it to obtain medical records, and do not use it as the centre's visit form.

## Used for these tasks

- [Plan how to take instructions from a client who is in custody](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/plan-how-to-take-instructions-from-a-client-who-is-in-custody.md)

## How AI may be used

The tool may insert the firm and the centre, and it must not add a medical release, a statutory declaration, or a statement of the offence.

**AI may:**

- Name the firm and the centre the lawyer has confirmed
- Limit the authority to arranging contact and confirming where the person is held
- Leave the signature for the person, witnessed in the way the lawyer arranges at the conference

**AI must not:**

- Must not authorise release of medical, psychological or substance-treatment records
- Must not include a statutory declaration
- Must not state the charge or the facts of the injury claim
- Must not say the centre must accept this paper as its visit approval

**The lawyer checks:**

- The person understood the one-page authority. An interpreter is used if the interview checklist says one is needed
- Capacity to sign this authority is considered on the capacity checklist if there is a reason to ask
- The original or a copy is kept in the firm's system. It is not published
- A separate health authority is used if medical records are needed later
- The centre's own form is still lodged. This page does not replace it

## Authorities

- [Corrections Victoria, Legal and other professional visitors: confidential legal contact is arranged with the prison or through the AVL Scheduler](https://www.corrections.vic.gov.au/contact-or-visit-a-prison/legal-and-other-professional-visitors)
- [Queensland legal visits booklet, January 2025: the centre books the legal contact; this authority is not Form 27(a)](https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/d6f4cadb-9073-490d-bb9c-5cf20d4d25ee/resource/12f32f71-3b93-48e8-91f7-f2ea596b3ae2/download/information-booklet-legal-visits.pdf)
- [Corrective Services NSW, Legal and medical visitors: the centre or JUST Connect books the visit; this authority is not the professional appointment form](https://correctiveservices.dcj.nsw.gov.au/contact-and-visit-inmates/legal-and-medical-visitors.html)
- [OAIC, APP guidelines Chapter 11, APP 11.1, and the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme: the signed authority is health-adjacent only if the file later adds medical information, and it stays in the firm's system](https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/australian-privacy-principles/australian-privacy-principles-guidelines/chapter-11-app-11-security-of-personal-information)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/custody-client-authority and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*