Full description
Corrective Services NSW was established on 1 July 2009, as a branch of the Department of Justice and Attorney General, following the abolition of the Department of Corrective Services as a Division of the Government Service. (1) Corrective Services NSW oversees the various correctional centres and correctional complexes housing offenders in the State, along with community based supervision. (2)
In 2010 the function of Corrective Services NSW was to deliver professional correctional services to reduce re-offending and enhance community safety. It provided custodial and community-based services as part of the criminal justice system. These services included correctional centre custody of remand and sentenced inmates, home detention, parole, pre-sentence reports and advice to courts and releasing authorities, community service orders and other forms of community-based offender supervision. Some of the aims of Corrective Services NSW were to reduce the risk of re-offending, provide safe, secure and humane management of offenders, and encourage community support and successful re-integration. (3) Corrective Services NSW was headed by a Commissioner, with several Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners taking responsibility for various working areas, comprising Security and Investigations; Offender Management and Operations; Corporate Services; and Probity, Staff Development and Safety. (4)
The operations of Corrective Services NSW were governed by the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (Act No.93 1999). The objects of this Act were firstly to ensure offenders required to be held in custody were removed from the general community, and that all offenders were kept under supervision in a safe, secure and humane manner. The Act also specified the aim of ensuring the safety of persons having custody or supervision of offenders were not endangered, and also to provide for the rehabilitation of offenders with a view to their reintegration into the general community. (5)
From 31 October 2009 the operation of Parklea Correctional Centre was outsourced to the GEO (Global Expertise Outsourcing) Group Australia, (6) making it the second privately run correctional centre in New South Wales (the first being Junee Correctional Centre).
From 4 April 2011, when the name of the Department of Justice and Attorney General was changed, Corrective Services NSW became a branch of the Department of Attorney General and Justice. (7)
From 1 July 2019, the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) brought together the former departments of Family and Community Services (FACS) and Justice. (8)
In September 2019 four of the state’s smallest correctional centres were retired, as new fit-for-purpose prison beds with a focus on rehabilitation were available. Operations were retired at Berrima, Grafton, Ivanhoe and Brewarrina correctional centres, and the Illawarra Reintegration Centre. As part of the operations improvement plan, Emu Plains and Kariong correctional centres were repurposed into a dedicated mothers’ facility and transient centre, respectively. The closures took place on:
-19 March 2020 - Illawarra Reintegration Centre.
-2 April 2020 - Berrima Correctional Centre.
-10 June 2020 - Brewarrina (Yetta Dhinnakkal).
-10 June 2020 - Ivanhoe (Warakirri) Correctional Centre.
-5 August 2020 - Grafton Intake and Transient Centre formally closed. (9)
In June 2020 the Clarence Correctional Centre, Australia's largest prison, a 1,700-bed centre at Lavadia near Grafton, was officially opened. This is a privately operated and run facility. (10)
Endnotes
1. Corrective Services NSW, Annual Report, 2008/2009, p.10.
2. Department of Justice and Attorney General, Annual Report, 2009/2010, p.64.
3. Ibid., p.64.
4. Ibid., p.69.
5. Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (Act No.93, 1999). s.2A.
6. Department of Justice and Attorney General, Annual Report, 2009/2010, p.75
7. Public Sector Employment and Management (Departments) Order 2011 (2011 No 184) cls. 36; notified on NSW Legislation website, 3 April 2011.
8. Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Public Service Agencies) Order 2019 (2019-159) cl. 11 (2) Legislation website, 2 April 2019 as amended by the Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes Miscellaneous) Order 2019 (2019-308) cls. 6 and 2 (4) Legislation website, 1 May 2019.
9. Corrective Services NSW website, About us, CSNSW History, https://correctiveservices.dcj.nsw.gov.au/csnsw-home/about-us/csnsw-history.html (accessed 2 December 2022).
10. Ibid.
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