Family Member Arrested in SA? Thirty Kilometres From The GPO

Transcript

Someone you love has been arrested in South Australia and the first question is always the same. Where are they? This state has an answer more precise than most and it starts with an odd little rule about the General Post Office. Let us walk through it and then through the next forty eight hours. Here is the rule. A person arrested within thirty kilometers of the Adelaide GPO is taken to the city watch house. Further out, they are held at the local police station. So in the metropolitan area, you likely already know the building your person is in tonight.

In the regions, it is the station for the town where it happened. Now the clock, because South Australia runs a fast one. Police make the first bail decision. If they refuse, your person must be brought before a court on the next working day, and for adults, a review of that refusal is heard no later than four in the afternoon the following day. Written reasons are given when bail is knocked back. It moves quickly, which means your preparation has to move quicker. Feed that fast clock with the facts that win bail. A stable address and whether it is yours to offer.

A responsible person willing to support them, possibly with a financial guarantee, so ask the lawyer what the court might want rather than guessing. Work, study or treatment waiting. Get it to a lawyer tonight, or to the duty solicitor who sees the custody list before court, and be sitting in that courtroom when the application runs. Three Protections from your side of the glass. Calls from custody are recorded, so never let the case be discussed on them Tell the watch house or station about medication and health conditions straight away, including mental health.

And no social media about the arrest from anyone in the family because posts become exhibits with your name attached. Two more doors worth knowing. If your family member is Aboriginal, the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement supports people in custody, details below. And if bail is refused and days pass, the corrections department runs allocating a prisoner service, so you always know which facility holds them and how visits work. A refusal now is not the end, further applications happen when circumstances firm up. A precise state rewards precise families.

Find the building, feed the facts before the four o'clock review, keep the recorded lines clean, and have a lawyer standing there when it counts. If you want to talk it through right now, our hotline is free to call at any hour, and a consultation with a criminal lawyer is a fixed price. The number is on your screen.