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Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1 July 2009 (As Corrective Services) |
Preceding Agency |
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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 | |
Agency executive |
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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. [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 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).
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:
Ministerial oversight of CSNSW is provided by the Minister for Corrections.
Facility | Operator | Security Classification | Opened |
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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 | 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:
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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). [3]
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.
Name | Title | Appointed by | Term start | Term end | Term duration |
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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 |
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.
Name | Title | Appointed by | Term start | Term end | Term duration |
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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 [4] [5] [6] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Albert Gould | 22 June 1896 | 17 September 1909 | 13 years, 87 days |
WM McFarlane [7] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister John Garland | 1 March 1910 | 29 April 1914 | 4 years, 59 days |
Samuel McCauley [8] [9] | 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 [10] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister William McKell | 8 February 1922 | 17 May 1925 | 3 years, 98 days |
HH McDougall [11] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister Thomas Ley | 17 May 1925 | 24 June 1925 | 38 days |
George Steele [12] | Comptroller-General | Justice Minister William McKell | 24 June 1925 | 31 December 1927 | 2 years, 190 days |
William Francis Hinchy [13] | 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 [14] | 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 |
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]
Name | Title | Appointed by | Term start | Term end | Term duration |
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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 [15] | 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 |
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.
Name | Title | Appointed by | Term start | Term end | Term duration |
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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 alsoRelated Research ArticlesThe Long Bay Correctional Complex, commonly called Long Bay, is a correctional facility comprising a heritage-listed maximum and minimum security prison for males and females and a hospital to treat prisoners, psychiatric cases and remandees, located in Malabar, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The complex is located approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of the Sydney CBD and is contained within a 32-hectare (79-acre) site. The facility is operated by Corrective Services New South Wales, a department administered by the Government of New South Wales. ![]() The former Grafton Gaol, later called the Grafton Correctional Centre and then Grafton Intake and Transient Centre is a heritage-listed former medium security prison for males and females, located in Grafton, Clarence Valley Council, New South Wales, Australia. The centre was operated by Corrective Services NSW an agency of the Department of Attorney General and Justice of the Government of New South Wales. In its last correctional use, the centre detained sentenced and unsentenced felons under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. Broken Hill Correctional Centre, formerly Broken Hill Gaol, is an Australian minimum and medium security prison for men and women located in Broken Hill, New South Wales, around 1,190 km (740 mi) from Sydney. Opened in 1892, it is the fourth-oldest prison still in operation in NSW. Parklea Correctional Centre, a privately managed Australian maximum and minimum security prison for males, is located at Parklea, in the north-western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. The facility is operated by MTC Ventia and has a current capacity for 1,350 inmates. The Centre accepts prisoners charged and convicted under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation and incorporates a minimum-security work-release centre for inmates nearing release with a capacity of 120. A Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional unit is incorporated within the centre. ![]() The Goulburn Correctional Centre, is an Australian supermaximum security prison for males. It is located in Goulburn, New South Wales, three kilometres north-east of the central business district. The facility is operated by Corrective Services NSW. The Complex accepts prisoners charged and convicted under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation and serves as a reception prison for Southern New South Wales, and, in some cases, for inmates from the Australian Capital Territory. St Heliers Correctional Centre is a prison farm for men located outside the town of Muswellbrook, New South Wales, Australia, and operated by the Corrective Services division of the Department of Communities and Justice. St Heliers generally holds offenders serving sentences under State or Australian criminal law and has a capacity of 256. Tamworth Correctional Centre, an Australian medium security prison for males, is located in Tamworth, New South Wales, 397 kilometres (247 mi) north of Sydney. The facility is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Communities and Justice, of the Government of New South Wales. The Centre accepts felons charged and convicted under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation and serves as a reception prison for north–western New South Wales. A periodic detention centre for males was opened in March 1997. ![]() The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, 21 km (13 mi) west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the New South Wales Government Department of Communities and Justice. ![]() The Parramatta Correctional Centre is a heritage-listed former medium security prison for males on the corner of O'Connell and Dunlop Streets, North Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was in operation between 1798 and 2011. The centre was initially called Parramatta Gaol until its name was changed to Parramatta Correctional Centre in 1992. When in operation, the centre was managed by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Communities and Justice of the Government of New South Wales. Immediately prior to its closure, the centre detained short term sentenced and remand inmates, operated as a transient centre, and was the periodic detention centre for metropolitan Sydney. ![]() Bathurst Correctional Centre, originally built as Bathurst Gaol in 1888, is a prison for men and women located in the city of Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, and operated by the Department of Communities and Justice. Bathurst holds inmates sentenced under State or Australian criminal law, along with a small number of remand prisoners. Francis Greenway Correctional Complex, formerly John Morony Correctional Complex is an Australian minimum security prison complex for males and females located in Berkshire Park, 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of Windsor in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Communities and Justice, of the Government of New South Wales. Cooma Correctional Centre, an Australian minimum to medium prison for males, is located in Cooma, New South Wales. The centre is operated by Corrective Services NSW an agency of the Department of Communities and Justice of the Government of New South Wales. The centre detains sentenced prisoners and persons on remand under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation. ![]() The Berrima Correctional Centre was an Australian prison, located at Berrima, New South Wales. The Centre was operational between 1839 and 2011 with a number of breaks in between, was re-opened in September 2016 and then permanently closed in 2020. Initially established as Berrima Gaol, the facility closed in 1909 and reopened in 1949 as the Berrima Training Centre. The Centre was the oldest Australian correctional facility in operation. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. ![]() The Alexander Maconochie Centre is an Australian prison in the Australian Capital Territory, which detains maximum security, minimum security and remand inmates, both male and female. It is located in Hume, Australian Capital Territory. The facility is operated by ACT Corrective Services, an agency of the Government of the Australian Capital Territory. The facility accepts remandees charged under Territory and/or Commonwealth legislation pending legal proceedings; and also detains convicted offenders who are sentenced to full-time imprisonment. The New South Wales Department of Prisons, later the Department of Corrective Services (DCS), was a State government agency in New South Wales, Australia, that managed prisons, parole and community service. Established in 1874 as the Department of Prisons, DCS was absorbed into the State Department of Justice and Attorney General in 2009. Punishment in Australia arises when an individual has been accused or convicted of breaking the law through the Australian criminal justice system. Australia uses prisons, as well as community corrections. When awaiting trial, prisoners may be kept in specialised remand centres or within other prisons. ![]() The Federal Penitentiary Service is a federal agency of the Ministry of Justice of Russia responsible for correctional services. The Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons, also known as the Nagle Royal Commission, was established in 1976 to inquire into the management of prisons in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The commission was headed by Supreme Court Justice John Flood Nagle. Nagle's report, handed down in 1978, described "an inefficient Department administering antiquated and disgraceful gaols; untrained and sometimes ignorant prison officers, resentful, intransigent and incapable of performing their tasks." The first of the Royal Commission's 252 recommendations was the dismissal of Corrective Services Commissioner Walter McGeechan – though the Government sacked McGeechan three months before receiving Nagle's final report. The New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice, a department of the Government of New South Wales, is responsible for the delivery of services to some of the most disadvantaged individuals, families and communities; and the administration and development of a just and equitable legal system of courts, tribunals, laws and other mechanisms that further the principles of justice in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It also provides services to children and young people, families, people who are homeless, people with a disability, their families and carers, women, and older people. The department is the lead agency of the Stronger Communities cluster of the New South Wales government. References
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