Video conferencing for professionals
About AVL conferencing
What is AVL conferencing?
AVL stands for audiovisual link. AVL conferencing allows two or more people in separate locations to communicate in real time using full-motion video and high-quality audio.
AVL conferencing also allows participants to share documents and other files.
When do we use audiovisual conferencing?
AVL conferencing can be used to provide for:
- video visits for families and friends
- police, expert, civilian and vulnerable witnesses to remotely provide testimony to courtrooms
- persons in custody to appear in court from a correctional or Youth Justice centre or police station
- legal professionals, including Legal Aid, Aboriginal Legal Services and private practitioners, to consult with clients detained in a correctional or Youth Justice centre
- medical professionals to conduct clinical assessments of detained persons when physical examination is not possible
- family or friends to communicate with their loved ones in a correctional or Youth Justice centre
- communication between government employees
AVL conferencing can be used from any location that has video conferencing equipment. Alternatively you can video conference from a personal device (e.g. from office or home) if you have permission to do so.
About JUST Connect
What is JUST Connect?
JUST Connect is the web-based collaborative software system we use to make it video-conferencing easier. JUST Connect allows community and government agencies, as well as approved external stakeholders, to book video and telephone calls, including meetings, professional interviews, and court appearances. JUST Connect also provides notifications and reminders about upcoming appointments. Currently Courts, Corrective Services NSW and Youth Justice staff use JUST Connect to manage and coordinate court appearances.
Information for JUST Connect users
Technologies and AVL in Courts
- Technologies and AVL in Courts
- Information for witnesses
- Information about evidence display facilities at courts
- Information about court AVL facilities
- Information about Just Connect roll out and training in District Courts (PDF , 93.3 KB)
Youth Justice and AVL
- Information for families when a child has been sent to a Youth Justice centre
- If your child is refused bail or placed on a control order in a Youth Justice centre
Legal Aid and AVL
Office of Director of Public Prosecutions and AVL
Corrective Services and AVL
Scheduled telephone access to offenders
Corrective Services NSW offers scheduled telephone calls in various centres, which all JUST Connect users can access. This makes it easier for legal practitioners to contact offenders in custody via a scheduled audio link. The scheduling allows staff to have offenders ready at the appointed time.
You can use JUST Connect to see when scheduled phone calls are available and then make a booking. Professionals without JUST Connect access must complete a 'Request for booking professional appointment with inmate (AVL / phone) (DOCX , 52.6 KB)' form and send it to the video conferencing area of the centre that houses the inmate. Please note that not all centres have a scheduled phone facility.
All professionals who wish to meet with an inmate must have a Visiting Inmate Number (VIN). If you do not have one, please fill in the VIN application form (DOCX , 83.5 KB).
Using your own device to hold a video conference if you are a legal practitioner
Representatives from the Communities and Justice Agencies, the Law Society of NSW and the New South Wales Bar Association have worked together to launch a new videoconferencing trial. It will allow select legal practitioners to interview clients housed in nominated NSW Correctional Centres without having to invest in expensive video conferencing equipment. Currently, the pilot trial is at maximum capacity. However, if you wish to inquire about possible future participation, please email vcenquiries@dcs.nsw.gov.au
