Corrective Services NSW explained

Agency Name:Corrective Services NSW
Type:Agency
Formed:1 July 2009 (As Corrective Services)
Preceding1:Department of Corrective Services
Jurisdiction:New South Wales
Headquarters:Henry Deane Building, 20 Lee Street, Haymarket, Sydney
Region Code:AU-NSW
Employees:11,500 (2022)
Budget: billion (2022)
Minister1 Name:Anoulack Chanthivong MP
Minister1 Pfo:Minister for Corrections
Chief1 Name:Leon Taylor
Chief1 Position:Acting Commissioner
Agency Type:Department
Parent Agency:Department of Communities and Justice
Website:https://correctiveservices.dcj.nsw.gov.au/

Corrective Services New South Wales (CSNSW) is a division of the Department of Communities and Justice of the Government of New South Wales, Australia. CSNSW is responsible for the state's prisons and a range of programs for managing offenders in the community. The state has 36 prisons, 33 run by CSNSW and three privately operated. The agency traces its origins back to 1788, when New South Wales was founded as a penal colony.

The services provided include correctional centre custody of remand and sentenced inmates, parole, pre-sentence reports and advice to courts and releasing authorities, community service orders and other forms of community-based offender supervision. Offenders in custody and those supervised in the community are assessed for relevant interventions to reduce their risks of re-offending. Corrective Services NSW works in partnership with other government and non-government justice and human services agencies in regard to inmates in custody and offenders in the community.

The agency head office is located in the City of Sydney.[1]

Legislation

CSNSW's operations are governed by a number of State laws, chief among them the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999. Other relevant laws include the,,,,,, and .

Structure

CSNSW is a division of the Department of Communities and Justice, headed by Acting Commissioner Leon Taylor, who reports to the Secretary of the Department, Michael Tidball. Corrective Services NSW is further divided into three branches, each headed by a deputy commissioner:

Ministerial oversight of CSNSW is provided by the Minister for Corrections.

Facilities

!Facility!Operator!Security Classification!Opened
Amber Laurel Correctional CentreCSNSWIntake and transit facility in Western Sydney
Bathurst Correctional ComplexCSNSWMixed-security facility for male offenders1888
Broken Hill Correctional CentreCSNSWMedium and minimum-security facility for male and female offenders1892
Cessnock Correctional ComplexCSNSWComplex houses:
  • Cessnock Correctional Centre – minimum- and medium-security facility for male offenders
  • Hunter Correctional Centre – maximum-security facility for male offenders
  • Shortland Correctional Centre – maximum security facility for male offenders
1974
Clarence Correctional Centre, GraftonSercoMaximum- and minimum-security correctional centre for male and female offenders2020
Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional CentreCSNSWHouses participants sentenced to a Compulsory Drug Treatment Order
Cooma Correctional CentreCSNSWMinimum- and medium-security facility
Emu Plains Correctional Centre                             CSNSWMinimum-security facility for female offenders
Glen Innes Correctional Centre                              CSNSWMinimum-security facility for male offenders
Goulburn Correctional CentreCSNSWIncorporates two correctional facilities
  • Goulburn Correctional Centre – Maximum/minimum security institution for male offenders
  • High Risk Management Correctional Centre – purpose-built maximum-security facility for male offenders
Francis Greenway Correctional Complex, Berkshire Park(Formerly John Morony Correctional Complex)CSNSWIncorporates three correctional facilities:
  • John Morony Correctional Centre, a maximum/medium security correctional centre for remand and sentenced male offenders
  • Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre (formerly Outer Metro Multi Purpose Correctional Centre), a minimum security correctional centre for males
  • Dillwynia Correctional Centre, a maximum security correctional centre for female offenders
Junee Correctional CentreGEO GroupMixed-security correctional centre for male offenders
Kariong Correctional CentreCSNSWAn intake and transit centre for classified inmates transitioning between Sydney and the NSW north coast
Kirkconnell Correctional CentreCSNSWMinimum-security facility for male offenders
Lithgow Correctional CentreCSNSWMaximum-security facility for male offenders
Long Bay Correctional Complex, MatravilleCSNSWIncorporates two facilities:
  • Long Bay Hospital – a maximum to minimum security facility for medical and psychiatric cases, and remandees
  • Metropolitan Special Programs Centre (MSPC) – a maximum/minimum security facility
Macquarie Correctional Centre                               CSNSWMaximum-security facility for male offenders
Mannus Correctional Centre                                   CSNSWMinimum-security facility for male offenders
Mary Wade Correctional CentreCSNSWMinimum-security facility for male offenders2017
Mid North Coast Correctional Centre, KempseyCSNSWMaximum-, medium- and minimum- security centre for male and female offenders2004
Oberon Correctional Centre                                    CSNSWMinimum-security facility for male offenders
Parklea Correctional CentreMTC/BroadspectrumHouses remand, minimum- and maximum-security inmates
Silverwater Correctional Complex, SilverwaterCSNSWIncorporates three facilities:
  • Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre a maximum security institution for women and the major reception centre for female offenders in NSW.
  • Metropolitan Remand & Reception Centre (MRRC) a maximum security correctional facility for men
  • Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre Area 1 & 2 is a minimum security correctional centre for men.
South Coast Correctional Centre, NowraCSNSWHouses male offenders with minimum, medium and maximum-security areas2010
St Heliers Correctional Centre                                CSNSWMinimum-security institution for male offenders
Tamworth Correctional Centre                               CSNSWMedium security facility for male offenders
Wellington Correctional CentreCSNSWHouses maximum security inmates

History

NSW established gaols in Berrima (1836), Cockatoo Island (1839), Darlinghurst (1841), Parramatta (1842), Maitland (1848), and (site of the current Four Seasons hotel located) in The Rocks and later in Goulburn (1884), Bathurst (1888), Broken Hill Correctional Centre (1892) in the state's far west, Long Bay (1909) as the State Reformatory for Women, and Emu Plains (1914).[2] In more recent years, correctional centres (as they are now known) have opened at Parklea (1983), Cessnock, Junee (1993), Lithgow, Silverwater (1997), Brewarrina (2000), John Morony Correctional Centre and Dillwynia Women's Correctional Centre in north-west Sydney, Kempsey (2004), Wellington (2007), and Nowra (2010).

Early years (1788–1874)

See main article: Convicts in Australia. Great Britain started the European settlement of the Colony of New South Wales in 1788, establishing a penal colony at what is now Sydney. The incentive to establishment the colony came from the conclusion (1783) of the American War of Independence, which forced Britain to find ways of dealing with criminals other than transporting them to North America. The initial settlement at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson involved housing convicts in tents, guarded by marines. Further convict shipments followed, and a surge of convicts arrived in Sydney after the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815. Convicts worked for pay and, where good behaviour was demonstrated, could be assigned to masters. Chain gangs operated from 1826 up until transportation ended in 1840.[3]

In the colony's early years, prisons and executions were managed first by the provost marshal, a military officer, and then, from 1824, by the sheriff.

List of provost marshals and sheriffs

Title! class="unsortable"
Appointed byTerm startTerm endTerm duration
data-sort-value="Brewer" Henry BrewerProvost MarshalGovernor Arthur Phillip
Thomas SmythProvost MarshalGovernor John Hunter
Garnham BlaxcellActing Provost MarshalGovernor Philip Gidley King
William GoreProvost MarshalColonial Secretary Robert Stewart
John Thomas CampbellProvost MarshalGovernor Lachlan Macquarie
John MackanessSheriffColonial Secretary Henry Bathurst
William CarterSheriffAttorney-General Alexander Baxter18281828
Thomas MacquoidSheriffAttorney-General Alexander Baxter18291841
Adolphus William YoungSheriffAttorney-General John Plunkett18431849
Gilbert EliotSheriffAttorney-General John Plunkett18491854
John O'Neill BrenanSheriffAttorney-General John Plunkett18551860
George Richard UhrSheriffAttorney-General John Hargrave18611864
Harold MacleanSheriffAttorney-General James Martin18641874

Departments of Prisons (1874–1970) and Corrective Services (1970–8)

The colony established its first Department of Prisons in 1874, with Sheriff Harold Maclean appointed as the first Comptroller-General.

The Department changed its name to 'Corrective Services' in 1970, and McGeechan's title changed to Commissioner. Eight years later, the Wran Government accepted the Royal Commission's recommendation that the post of commissioner be abolished in favour of a three-person Corrective Services Commission.

List of comptrollers-general

Title! class="unsortable"
Appointed byTerm startTerm endTerm duration
data-sort-value="Maclean" Harold MacleanComptroller-GeneralIncumbent18741889
George MillerComptroller-GeneralJustice Minister Albert Gould1896
William Neitenstein[4] [5] [6] Comptroller-GeneralJustice Minister Albert Gould
WM McFarlane[7] Comptroller-GeneralJustice Minister John Garland
Samuel McCauley[8] [9] Comptroller-GeneralJustice Minister David Hall
Denis Gaynor D'ArcyComptroller-GeneralJustice Minister Jack FitzGerald
William Urquhart[10] Comptroller-GeneralJustice Minister William McKell
HH McDougall[11] Comptroller-GeneralJustice Minister Thomas Ley
George Steele[12] Comptroller-GeneralJustice Minister William McKell
William Francis Hinchy[13] Comptroller-GeneralJustice Minister John Lee
George F. MurphyComptroller-GeneralAttorney-General Henry Manning
Leslie Cecil Joshua Nott[14] Comptroller-GeneralJustice Minister Reg Downing
Harold Richard VaggComptroller-GeneralJustice Minister Reg Downing
John Arthur MoronyComptroller-GeneralJustice Minister Reg Downing
Walter McGeechanComptroller-GeneralAttorney-General Ken McCaw

Post-Nagle Royal Commission (1978–2009)

The Government appointed academic Tony Vinson as the chairman of the new Corrective Services Commission. Vinson implemented many of the Royal Commission recommendations, but by 1981 found himself in conflict with the officers' union, the Public Service Association. The Government backed the union in the dispute, and Vinson retired to academia. The tenure of his replacement, Vern Dalton, was memorable for a corruption scandal that saw the Minister for Corrections, Rex Jackson, sentenced to 10 years' gaol for corruption.

Labor, tarnished by this and other scandals, was swept from office in 1988: the Liberal–Nationals coalition that replaced them campaigned on a 'tough on crime' platform. Dalton was moved to a different department and the Corrective Services Commission was abolished in favour of a single director-general on 9 August 1988. The first director-general was former police officer Angus Graham.

In October 1991 the department was restructured, with its juvenile justice responsibilities being transferred to a separate agency and Graham's title changed to Commissioner.[15]

List of commissioners and directors-general

Title! class="unsortable"
Appointed byTerm startTerm endTerm duration
data-sort-value="Downs" Leslie Kenneth DownsActing CommissionerAttorney-General Frank Walker18 January 197819 June 1978
data-sort-value="Downs" Leslie Kenneth DownsAssociate CommissionerAttorney-General Frank Walker19 June 197815 November 1978
data-sort-value="Day" Noel Stanley DayCommissionerAttorney-General Frank Walker19 June 197819 March 1979
data-sort-value="Vinson" Dr Phillippe Anthony VinsonChairman and CommissionerCorrections Minister Bill Haigh19 March 19796 October 1981
data-sort-value="Day" Noel Stanley DayDeputy Chairman and CommissionerCorrections Minister Bill Haigh19 March 1979
data-sort-value="Bailey" Arnold Victor BaileyCommissionerCorrections Minister Bill Haigh19 March 1979
data-sort-value="Ellard" Dr John Victor Temple EllardCommissioner (part-time)Corrections Minister Bill Haigh19 March 1979
data-sort-value="Hayes" Francis Daniel HayesCommissioner (part-time)Corrections Minister Bill Haigh19 March 1979
data-sort-value="Dalton" Vern DaltonChairman and CommissionerCorrections Minister Rex Jackson198122 August 1988
Stanley MillerCommissioner (part-time)Corrections Minister John Akister19 March 198622 August 1988
Dr Glenice Kay HancockCommissionerCorrections Minister John Akister1 December 198622 August 1988
Dr Susan Carol HayesCommissioner (part-time)Corrections Minister John Akister1 December 198622 August 1988
David John Robert GrantDeputy Chairman and CommissionerCorrections Minister John Akister27 January 198722 August 1988
Noel Stanley DayActing Director-GeneralCorrections Minister Michael Yabsley22 August 19888 March 1989
data-sort-value="Graham2" Angus GrahamDirector-GeneralCorrections Minister Michael Yabsley8 March 198910 October 1991
data-sort-value="Graham2" Angus GrahamCommissionerJustice Minister Terry Griffiths10 October 1991
data-sort-value="Smethurst" Neville SmethurstCommissioner26 August 1996
data-sort-value="Keliher" Dr Leo KeliherCommissionerAttorney-General Jeff Shaw2002
data-sort-value="Woodham" Ron WoodhamCommissionerCorrections Minister Richard Amery20022009

Corrective Services New South Wales (2009–present)

As part of a broader consolidation of government departments in 2009, the Department of Corrective Services was merged with the departments of the Attorney-General and Juvenile Justice in 2009. Corrective Services New South Wales became a division of what is now known as the Department of Justice, with Woodham retaining his role as Commissioner. Liberal Attorney-General Greg Smith replaced Woodham with Peter Severin, the head of South Australia's prison service, in 2012.

The NSW prison population has doubled in the last two decades, from 7810 inmates in 1998 to 13,722 in 2018.[16] Females account for 8% (1040) of the prisoner population in NSW and 24.7% (3300) of inmates are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The annual expenditure on prisons in NSW in 2018 was $1.16 billion, and the average cost per prisoner per day is $188.[17]

In terms of performance indicators, in 2018 Corrective Services NSW prisons were below average for Australian states and territories for recidivism (51% at two years), assaults (25 per 100 prisoners), deaths in custody (0.07/100 prisoners), participation in education and training (22%), time out of cells (8 hours/day) and prison capacity utilisation (129%).

In 2019, Corrective Services set a target to reduce adult prison inmate reoffending by 5 per cent by 2023.[18] The prisoner population of NSW is estimated to rise to by 550 inmates a year to 16,402 within five years.[19] In response to prisoner number growth, Corrective Services NSW launched a $3.8 billion program for building new prison capacity in 2016.[20]

The Incident Response Team (IRT) is the Riot Squad of Corrective Services NSW. IRT officers are equipped with ballistic vests, helmets with visors, arm and leg guards, capsicum spray, an ASP baton, and flex-cuffs. The grenade launchers issued can fire CS gas or baton rounds.

The Security Operations Group (SOG) is the Corrective Services NSW tactical group. They were formed as the "Emergency Squad," named after the NSW Police Emergency Squad. Long Bay Gaol Emergency Squad were active in riot control at the facility. The group was then renamed the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) in 2009. [21] HRT did not have riot control responsibilities. HRT's roles were limited hostage rescue until the NSW Police Force Tactical Operations Unit arrived. The team was renamed the Security Operations Group (SOG) The Group's responsibilities include armed escorts of high risk inmates, armed patrols of high security facilities, and responding to armed inmates. SOG are trained to rescue hostages if necessary, although procedure is to cordon and contain for the NSW Police Tactical Operations Unit. SOG operators escort high risk inmates in unmarked, armoured four wheel drives. The main rifle used is the SIG MCX assault rifle. The Heckler and Koch UMP submachinegun is utilized, with the Glock 22 as a sidearm.

List of corrective services commissioners

Title! class="unsortable"
Appointed byTerm startTerm endTerm duration
data-sort-value="Woodham" Ron WoodhamCommissionerCorrections Minister Richard Amery2002201210 years
data-sort-value="Severin" Peter SeverinCommissionerAttorney-General Greg Smith201220219 years
Kevin Corcoran PSMCommissionerAnthony Roberts, Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections202120242 years
Leon TaylorActing CommissionerMinister for Corrections2023

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Contact us . Corrective Services NSW . 1 December 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101203021144/http://www.correctiveservices.nsw.gov.au/contact-us . 3 December 2010 . dead .
  2. News: Chronology - A History of Australian Prison Reform . Four Corners . Australia . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 7 November 2005 . 19 November 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111121211908/http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2005/20050711_supermax/prison-chronology.htm . 21 November 2011 . dead .
  3. Web site: History of NSW Corrections . Corrective Services NSW . 2008 . 19 November 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120107151259/http://www.correctiveservices.nsw.gov.au/about-us/history-of-nsw-corrections . 7 January 2012 .
  4. Stephen . Garton . Frederick William Neitenstein (1850–1921) . 10 . 1986 . neitenstein-frederick-william-7735 .
  5. News: Changes in the civil service: the new comptroller of prisons. 22 June 1896. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney).
  6. News: Captain Neitenstein. 17 September 1909. The Inverell Times.
  7. News: New comptroller-general of prisons. 6 March 1910. Sunday Times (Sydney).
  8. News: New comptroller of prisons: Mr McCauley appointed. 29 April 1914. Tamworth Daily Observer.
  9. News: Comptroller of prisons dead. 19 December 1919. The Riverine Grazier.
  10. News: Comptroller-General of prisons. 8 February 1922. The Maitland Daily Mercury.
  11. News: Mr MacDougall's further rise. 14 May 1925. Cootamundra Herald.
  12. News: Prisons chief: Mr George Steele comptroller. 24 June 1925. Northern Star (Lismore).
  13. News: New prison chief: Mr WF Hinchy succeeds Mr Steele. 3 January 1928. Evening News (Sydney).
  14. News: Prisons head to retire. 16 July 1947. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  15. News: Corrections shake-up: plan to cut 100 administrative jobs. 10 October 1991. The Canberra Times.
  16. https://www.correctiveservices.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/CorrectiveServices/related-links/publications-and-policies/corrections-research-evaluation-and-statistics/nsw-offender-census.aspx NSW Inmate and Community Offender Census
  17. https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2019/justice/corrective-services Report on Government Services 2019 - Corrections
  18. https://www.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/Reforms/reducing-reoffending/reducing-reoffending.aspx Reducing Reoffending
  19. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/other/12649/Answers%20to%20questions%20on%20notice%20-%20PC%205%20-%20Counter%20Terrorism%20and%20Corrections%20-%20Roberts%20-%20received%203%20October%202019.pdf NSW Budget Estimates: Minister for Corrections
  20. NSW Budget 2016: $3.8 billion for new jail capacity to cover surge in prison population https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-budget-2016-38-billion-for-new-jail-capacity-to-cover-surge-in-prison-population-20160616-gpkhd5.html
  21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8PHudTlvqE