Corrective Services NSW
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Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) is an
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...
agency of the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. 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 A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...
. 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 The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...
.


Legislation

CSNSW's operations are governed by a number of State laws, chief among them the . Other relevant pieces of legislation include the , the , the , the , the , the , the , and the . Corrective Services NSW also manages the following regulations: the , the , and the .


Structure

CSNSW is an independent executive agency, headed by Acting Commissioner Leon Taylor, who reports directly to the Minister for Corrections, Anoulack Chanthivong. Corrective Services NSW is further divided into three branches, each headed by a deputy commissioner: * Strategy & Governance * Security & Custody * Community, Industry & Capacity. CSNSW was formally a division of the Department of Communities and Justice, under which the Commissioner would report to the Secretary of the Department, who in turn reported to the Minister. CSNSW does not administer youth detention centres, which continue to be administered by Youth Justice NSW, as a division of the Department of Communities and Justice.


Facilities


History

NSW established gaols in Berrima (1836), Cockatoo Island (1839),
Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...
(1841),
Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...
(1842), Maitland (1848), and (site of the current Four Seasons hotel located) in The Rocks and later in
Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...
(1884), Bathurst (1888),
Broken Hill Correctional Centre Broken Hill Correctional Centre, formerly Broken Hill Gaol, is an Australian punishment in Australia, minimum and medium security prison for men and women located in Broken Hill, New South Wales, around from Sydney. Opened in 1892, it is the f ...
(1892) in the state's far west, Long Bay (1909) as the State Reformatory for Women, and
Emu Plains Emu Plains is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. Emu Plains ...
(1914). In more recent years, correctional centres (as they are now known) have opened at Parklea (1983), Cessnock, Junee (1993), Lithgow, Silverwater (1997),
Brewarrina Brewarrina (pronounced ''bree-warren-ah''; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. It is east of Bourke and west of Walgett on the Kamilaroi Highway, a ...
(2000), John Morony Correctional Centre and Dillwynia Women's Correctional Centre in north-west Sydney, Kempsey (2004),
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
(2007), and
Nowra Nowra () is a city in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated po ...
(2010).


Early years (1788–1874)

Great Britain started the European settlement of the
Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...
in 1788, establishing a
penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...
at what is now
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. The incentive to establishment the colony came from the conclusion (1783) of the
American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, which forced Britain to find ways of dealing with criminals other than transporting them to North America. The initial settlement at
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in
Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...
involved housing convicts in tents, guarded by
marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...
. Further convict shipments followed, and a surge of
convicts A convict is "a person found Guilt (law), guilty of a crime and Sentence (law), sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a commo ...
arrived in Sydney after the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
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. In the colony's early years, prisons and executions were managed first by the
provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French (Modern French ). While a provost marshal is now usually a senior c ...
, a military officer, and then, from 1824, by the
sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
.


List of provost marshals and sheriffs


Departments of Prisons (1874–1970) and Corrective Services (1970–78)

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


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 Prison Officer's Vocational Branch (PVOB). The PVOB frequently opposed the Royal Commission recommendations, and a group of prison officers who called themselves the Maggot Squad intimidated and harassed the officers who were supportive of progressive reforms. The Government backed the union in the dispute, and Vinson resigned and went back to working in 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 was defeated at the 1988 New South Wales state election: 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.


List of commissioners and directors-general


Corrective Services New South Wales (2009–2024)

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 In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Greg Smith replaced Woodham with Peter Severin, the head of
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
'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. 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. 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. The prisoner population of NSW is estimated to rise to by 550 inmates a year to 16,402 within five years. In response to prisoner number growth, Corrective Services NSW launched a $3.8 billion program for building new prison capacity in 2016. 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. 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 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...
as a sidearm.


List of corrective services commissioners


Corrective Services NSW (2024–present)

Following the Astill Inquiry, formed to inquire into the offending of former correctional officer Wayne Astill at the Dillwynia Women's Correctional Centre, which exposed systemic culture and organisational issues within Corrective Services New South Wales, the
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Chris Minns Christopher John Minns (born 17 September 1979) is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of New South Wales since March 2023. He has been the leader of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) si ...
announced that the service would be split from the Department of Communities and Justice and become its own executive agency, responsible directly to the Minister for Corrections. The Premier's decision was motivated by desires to create a more "accountable and transparent system". The Premier stated that the move would bring CSNSW in line with frontline agencies such as
Fire and Rescue New South Wales Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) previously known as NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB), is a government agency, agency of the New South Wales Government, Australia. FRNSW is responsible for firefighting, rescue and hazardous material, HAZMAT services in the ...
.


See also

* Alexander Maconochie Centre * Commissioner of Corrective Services (New South Wales) * Department of Communities and Justice *
GEO Group Australia The GEO Group Australia Pty. Ltd. is an Australian subsidiary of American company The GEO Group Inc., responsible for the delivery of outsourced and privatised correctional services in Australia. Its head office is on Level 18 in the National ...
* Juvenile Justice NSW * Punishment in Australia *
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*
Villawood Immigration Detention Centre Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, originally Villawood Migrant Hostel or Villawood Migrant Centre, split into a separate section named Westbridge Migrant Hostel from 1968 to 1984, is an Australian immigration detention facility located i ...


References


External links


Corrective Services NSW
{{Authority control Corrective