| 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]
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 .
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.
| 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:
| 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
| ||
| Francis Greenway Correctional Complex, Berkshire Park(Formerly John Morony Correctional Complex) | CSNSW | Incorporates three correctional facilities:
| ||
| 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:
| ||
| 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 | Minimum-security facility for male 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:
| ||
| 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 |
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).
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.
| Appointed by | Term start | Term end | Term duration | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-value="Brewer" | Henry Brewer | Provost Marshal | Governor Arthur Phillip | |||
| Thomas Smyth | Provost Marshal | Governor John Hunter | ||||
| Garnham Blaxcell | Acting Provost Marshal | Governor Philip Gidley King | ||||
| William Gore | Provost Marshal | Colonial Secretary Robert Stewart | ||||
| John Thomas Campbell | Provost Marshal | Governor Lachlan Macquarie | ||||
| John Mackaness | Sheriff | Colonial Secretary Henry Bathurst | ||||
| 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 |
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.
| Appointed by | Term start | Term end | Term duration | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-value="Maclean" | Harold Maclean | Comptroller-General | Incumbent | 1874 | 1889 | |
| George Miller | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Albert Gould | 1896 | |||
| William Neitenstein[4] [5] [6] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Albert Gould | ||||
| WM McFarlane[7] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister John Garland | ||||
| Samuel McCauley[8] [9] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister David Hall | ||||
| Denis Gaynor D'Arcy | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Jack FitzGerald | ||||
| William Urquhart[10] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister William McKell | ||||
| HH McDougall[11] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Thomas Ley | ||||
| George Steele[12] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister William McKell | ||||
| William Francis Hinchy[13] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister John Lee | ||||
| George F. Murphy | Comptroller-General | Attorney-General Henry Manning | ||||
| Leslie Cecil Joshua Nott[14] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Reg Downing | ||||
| Harold Richard Vagg | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Reg Downing | ||||
| John Arthur Morony | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Reg Downing | ||||
| Walter McGeechan | Comptroller-General | Attorney-General Ken McCaw |
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]
| Appointed by | Term start | Term end | Term duration | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-value="Downs" | Leslie Kenneth Downs | Acting Commissioner | Attorney-General Frank Walker | 18 January 1978 | 19 June 1978 | ||
| data-sort-value="Downs" | Leslie Kenneth Downs | Associate Commissioner | Attorney-General Frank Walker | 19 June 1978 | 15 November 1978 | ||
| data-sort-value="Day" | Noel Stanley Day | Commissioner | Attorney-General Frank Walker | 19 June 1978 | 19 March 1979 | ||
| data-sort-value="Vinson" | Dr Phillippe Anthony Vinson | Chairman and Commissioner | Corrections Minister Bill Haigh | 19 March 1979 | 6 October 1981 | ||
| data-sort-value="Day" | Noel Stanley Day | Deputy Chairman and Commissioner | Corrections Minister Bill Haigh | 19 March 1979 | |||
| data-sort-value="Bailey" | Arnold Victor Bailey | Commissioner | Corrections Minister Bill Haigh | 19 March 1979 | |||
| data-sort-value="Ellard" | Dr John Victor Temple Ellard | Commissioner (part-time) | Corrections Minister Bill Haigh | 19 March 1979 | |||
| data-sort-value="Hayes" | Francis Daniel Hayes | Commissioner (part-time) | Corrections Minister Bill Haigh | 19 March 1979 | |||
| data-sort-value="Dalton" | 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 | |||
| data-sort-value="Graham2" | Angus Graham | Director-General | Corrections Minister Michael Yabsley | 8 March 1989 | 10 October 1991 | ||
| data-sort-value="Graham2" | Angus Graham | Commissioner | Justice Minister Terry Griffiths | 10 October 1991 | |||
| data-sort-value="Smethurst" | Neville Smethurst | Commissioner | 26 August 1996 | ||||
| data-sort-value="Keliher" | Dr Leo Keliher | Commissioner | Attorney-General Jeff Shaw | 2002 | |||
| data-sort-value="Woodham" | Ron Woodham | Commissioner | Corrections Minister Richard Amery | 2002 | 2009 |
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.
| Appointed by | Term start | Term end | Term duration | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-value="Woodham" | Ron Woodham | Commissioner | Corrections Minister Richard Amery | 2002 | 2012 | 10 years |
| data-sort-value="Severin" | 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 | |
| Leon Taylor | Acting Commissioner | Minister for Corrections | 2023 |