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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. [1]
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. [2]
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.
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.
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. [3]
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.
The 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.
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, an agency of the Department of Justice, of the Government of New South Wales. 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.
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 Attorney General 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.
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 Attorney General 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 Attorney General 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 New South Wales Department of Justice was a state government agency in New South Wales, Australia, that operated under various names between 2009 and 2019. In 2019, most of its functions were absorbed by a new Department of Communities and Justice. The department was responsible for the state's justice system – courts, prosecutions, prisons, sheriffs – and most emergency service agencies.
Tony Vinson was an Australian academic, regarded as "one of Australia's leading social scientists and outspoken public intellectuals". His career spanned the disciplines of social work, social policy, psychology, education, public administration and social research.
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 New South Wales Minister for Corrections is a minister of the Government of New South Wales who is commissioned with responsibility for the administration of correctional services, juvenile justice, and prisons in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
The Mid North Coast Correctional Centre, an Australian minimum to maximum security prison for males and females, is located in Aldavilla, West Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, 455 kilometres (283 mi) north of Sydney. The facility is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Attorney General and Justice, of the Government of New South Wales. The Centre accepts sentenced and unsentenced felons under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation.
The Honourable John Hailes Flood "Gaffer" Nagle (1913–2009) was a lawyer, soldier and prominent jurist, who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia, from 1960 until 1983. Nagle led high-profile inquiries into the NSW Department of Corrective Services and the assassination of political candidate Donald Mackay.
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 Office of the Sheriff of New South Wales is an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, forming part of the Department of Communities and Justice and headed by the State's Sheriff. The current Sheriff is Tracey Hall PSM.
Mary Wade Correctional Centre is a maximum-security prison for women in suburban Sydney, Australia, operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the New South Wales state government. The prison houses female inmates on remand. The centre was named for Mary Wade, a convict transported to colonial NSW in 1790.
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.
The Commissioner of Corrective Services is a statutory office-holder in the State of New South Wales, Australia, with responsibility for the State's prison, parole and community corrections systems. The incumbent is Kevin Corcoran PSM. Prior to 2009, the Commissioner managed his own Department of Corrective Services. Since 2009, Corrections has been a division of the State's justice department, currently known as the Department of Communities and Justice.