Corrective Services NSW

For the former department, see New South Wales Department of Corrective Services.

Corrective Services NSW

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Agency overview
Formed	1 July 2009 (As Corrective Services)
Preceding Agency	Department of Corrective Services
Type	Department
Jurisdiction	New South Wales
Headquarters	Henry Deane Building, 20 Lee Street, Haymarket, Sydney
Employees	11,500 (2022)
Annual budget	A$2.2 billion (2022)
Minister responsible	Anoulack Chanthivong MP, Minister for Corrections
Agency executive	Kevin Corcoran PSM, Commissioner
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 in the Henry Deane Building in Haymarket, City of Sydney.

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 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), Crimes Act 1900 No 40 (NSW), Crimes (Interstate Transfer of Community Based Sentences) Act 2004 (NSW), Protected Disclosures Act 1994 No 92 (NSW), Summary Offences Act 1988 No 25 (NSW), Prisoners (Interstate Transfer) Act 1982 No 104 (NSW), and Parole Orders (Transfer) Act 1983 No 190 (NSW).

Structure

CSNSW is a division of the Department of Communities and Justice, headed by Commissioner Kevin Corcoran PSM, who reports to the Acting Secretary of the Department, Catherine D'Elia. Corrective Services NSW is further divided into six branches, each headed by an assistant commissioner:

• Custodial Corrections
• Community Corrections
• Offender Management & Programs
• Security & Intelligence
• Governance & Continuous Improvement
• Corrections Strategy & Policy.

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

Facilities

Facility	Operator	Security Classification	Opened
Amber Laurel Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Intake and transit facility in Western Sydney
Bathurst Correctional Complex	CSNSW	Mixed-security facility for male offenders	1888
Broken Hill Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Medium and minimum-security facility for male and female offenders	1892
Cessnock Correctional Complex	CSNSW	Complex 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, Grafton	Serco	Maximum- and minimum-security correctional centre for male and female offenders	2020
Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Houses participants sentenced to a Compulsory Drug Treatment Order
Cooma Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Minimum- and medium-security facility
Emu Plains Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Minimum-security facility for female offenders
Glen Innes Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Minimum-security facility for male offenders
Goulburn Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Incorporates 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)	CSNSW	Incorporates 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 minimum/medium security correctional centre for female offenders
Junee Correctional Centre	GEO Group	Mixed-security correctional centre for male offenders
Kariong Correctional Centre	CSNSW	An intake and transit centre for classified inmates transitioning between Sydney and the NSW north coast
Kirkconnell Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Minimum-security facility for male offenders
Lithgow Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Maximum-security facility for male offenders
Long Bay Correctional Complex, Matraville	CSNSW	Incorporates 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	CSNSW	Maximum-security facility for male offenders
Mannus Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Minimum-security facility for male offenders
Mary Wade Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Maximum-security facility for female offenders	2017
Mid North Coast Correctional Centre, Kempsey	CSNSW	Maximum-, medium- and minimum- security centre for male and female offenders	2004
Oberon Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Minimum-security facility for male offenders
Parklea Correctional Centre	MTC/Broadspectrum	Houses remand, minimum- and maximum-security inmates
Silverwater Correctional Complex, Silverwater	CSNSW	Incorporates 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, Nowra	CSNSW	Houses male offenders with minimum, medium and maximum-security areas	2010
St Heliers Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Minimum-security institution for male offenders
Tamworth Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Medium security facility for male offenders
Wellington Correctional Centre	CSNSW	Houses 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). 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)

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.

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

Name	Title	Appointed by	Term start	Term end	Term duration
Henry Brewer	Provost Marshal	Governor Arthur Phillip	26 January 1788	February 1796	8 years, 6 days
Thomas Smyth	Provost Marshal	Governor John Hunter	February 1796	20 December 1804	8 years, 323 days
Garnham Blaxcell	Acting Provost Marshal	Governor Philip Gidley King	20 December 1804	1 August 1805	224 days
William Gore	Provost Marshal	Colonial Secretary Robert Stewart	1 August 1805	8 March 1819	13 years, 219 days
John Thomas Campbell	Provost Marshal	Governor Lachlan Macquarie	8 March 1819	January 1824	4 years, 299 days
John Mackaness	Sheriff	Colonial Secretary Henry Bathurst	January 1824	November 1827
William Carter	Sheriff	Attorney-General Alexander Baxter	1828	1828
Thomas Macquoid	Sheriff	Attorney-General Alexander Baxter	1829	1841
Adolphus William Young	Sheriff	Attorney-General John Plunkett	1843	1849
Gilbert Eliot	Sheriff	Attorney-General John Plunkett	1849	1854
John O'Neill Brenan	Sheriff	Attorney-General John Plunkett	1855	1860
George Richard Uhr	Sheriff	Attorney-General John Hargrave	1861	1864
Harold Maclean	Sheriff	Attorney-General James Martin	1864	1874

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

Name	Title	Appointed by	Term start	Term end	Term duration
Harold Maclean	Comptroller-General	Incumbent	1874	1889	15 years, 0 days
George Miller	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister Albert Gould	8 January 1890	1896	5 years, 358 days
William Neitenstein	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister Albert Gould	22 June 1896	17 September 1909	13 years, 87 days
WM McFarlane	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister John Garland	1 March 1910	29 April 1914	4 years, 59 days
Samuel McCauley	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister David Hall	29 April 1914	19 December 1919	5 years, 234 days
Denis Gaynor D'Arcy	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister Jack FitzGerald	31 December 1919	2 February 1922	2 years, 33 days
William Urquhart	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister William McKell	8 February 1922	17 May 1925	3 years, 98 days
HH McDougall	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister Thomas Ley	17 May 1925	24 June 1925	38 days
George Steele	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister William McKell	24 June 1925	31 December 1927	2 years, 190 days
William Francis Hinchy	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister John Lee	3 January 1928	31 January 1940	12 years, 28 days
George F. Murphy	Comptroller-General	Attorney-General Henry Manning	31 January 1940	31 July 1947	7 years, 181 days
Leslie Cecil Joshua Nott	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister Reg Downing	31 July 1947	30 June 1956	8 years, 335 days
Harold Richard Vagg	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister Reg Downing	20 July 1956	9 August 1960	4 years, 20 days
John Arthur Morony	Comptroller-General	Justice Minister Reg Downing	9 August 1960	14 July 1968	7 years, 340 days
Walter McGeechan	Comptroller-General	Attorney-General Ken McCaw	15 July 1968	18 January 1978	9 years, 187 days

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.

List of commissioners and directors-general

Name	Title	Appointed by	Term start	Term end	Term duration
Leslie Kenneth Downs	Acting Commissioner	Attorney-General Frank Walker	18 January 1978	19 June 1978	152 days
Leslie Kenneth Downs	Associate Commissioner	Attorney-General Frank Walker	19 June 1978	15 November 1978	149 days
Noel Stanley Day	Commissioner	Attorney-General Frank Walker	19 June 1978	19 March 1979	273 days
Dr Phillippe Anthony Vinson	Chairman and Commissioner	Corrections Minister Bill Haigh	19 March 1979	6 October 1981	2 years, 201 days
Noel Stanley Day	Deputy Chairman and Commissioner	Corrections Minister Bill Haigh	19 March 1979	19 March 1986	9 years, 143 days
Arnold Victor Bailey	Commissioner	Corrections Minister Bill Haigh	19 March 1979	19 March 1986	9 years, 143 days
Dr John Victor Temple Ellard	Commissioner (part-time)	Corrections Minister Bill Haigh	19 March 1979	19 March 1986	9 years, 143 days
Francis Daniel Hayes	Commissioner (part-time)	Corrections Minister Bill Haigh	19 March 1979	19 March 1986	9 years, 143 days
Vern Dalton	Chairman and Commissioner	Corrections Minister Rex Jackson	1981	22 August 1988
Stanley Miller	Commissioner (part-time)	Corrections Minister John Akister	19 March 1986	22 August 1988
Dr Glenice Kay Hancock	Commissioner	Corrections Minister John Akister	1 December 1986	22 August 1988
Dr Susan Carol Hayes	Commissioner (part-time)	Corrections Minister John Akister	1 December 1986	22 August 1988
David John Robert Grant	Deputy Chairman and Commissioner	Corrections Minister John Akister	27 January 1987	22 August 1988
Noel Stanley Day	Acting Director-General	Corrections Minister Michael Yabsley	22 August 1988	8 March 1989
Angus Graham	Director-General	Corrections Minister Michael Yabsley	8 March 1989	10 October 1991	2 years, 216 days
Angus Graham	Commissioner	Justice Minister Terry Griffiths	10 October 1991
Neville Smethurst	Commissioner			26 August 1996
Dr Leo Keliher	Commissioner	Attorney-General Jeff Shaw	26 August 1996	2002
Ron Woodham	Commissioner	Corrections Minister Richard Amery	2002	2009

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. 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 as a sidearm.

List of corrective services commissioners

Name	Title	Appointed by	Term start	Term end	Term duration
Ron Woodham	Commissioner	Corrections Minister Richard Amery	2002	2012	10 years
Peter Severin	Commissioner	Attorney-General Greg Smith	2012	2021	9 years
Kevin Corcoran PSM	Commissioner	Anthony Roberts, Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections	2021	2024	2 years See also Alexander Maconochie Centre Commissioner of Corrective Services (New South Wales) Department of Communities and Justice GEO Group Australia Juvenile Justice NSW Punishment in Australia Serco Villawood Immigration Detention Centre References External links Corrective Services NSW