115TH
INTERNATIONAL
TRAINING
COURSEVISITING
EXPERTS’
PAPERSVISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS

CURRENT ISSUES IN CORRECTIONAL TREATMENT AND
EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURES:
OVERCROWDING OF PRISONS,
THE MANAGEMENT OF WOMEN, FOREIGN PRISONERS AND
THOSE CONVICTED OF DRUG RELATED OFFENCES.
AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE
Luke Grant*
LECTURE 1. OVERCROWDING
I. INTRODUCTION
The rising number of people in prison
around the world has been the subject ofinternational interest particularly over the
past two decades.
The number of people in custody percapita varies enormously over time andbetween jurisdictions and interpretation ofthese differences particularly between
countries is difficult. What is clear
however, is that the use of imprisonment
as a form of punishment and incapacitation
is increasing in most countries and that
overcrowding (which I would define as ashortage of space and resources relative tothe size of the population) in many places
is becoming a significant problem.
It is also apparent that there is no one
single factor that can be identified as being
primarily responsible. There has been a
lot of conjecture about the impact of theinternational drug problem and about
rising crime rates, but researchers haveconsistently failed to show that this is theroot cause.
Overcrowding itself is more than just a
shortage of bed space, it has implications
for the levels of programmes activity,
hygiene, violence etc. It can be an obstacle* New South Wales, Department of Corrective
Services, Australia

to the realisation of many of the objectivesof a modem correctional system.
The dilemma of prison overcrowding
encourages a number of logical solutions.
The approach that is taken in each country
will be the outcome of a number of factors
including the philosophy of punishment,
the viability of alternatives toimprisonment, economics, political andpopulist ideology and the flexibility of thelegislative framework. There are
essentially three ways to solve the problem:
1. Reduce the number of prisoners
2. Increase the scale of available facilities
and resources (build more gaols)
3. Rationalise the available resources andfacilities e.g. to double up inaccommodation areas and toreallocates funds for rehabilitation
programms to meet more basic needs
like food and clothing.
Unfortunately for prison administrators
it is usually only the third of these options
over which they have any direct influence.
In some countries the option of reducing
prisoner numbers will not be considered
because the number of people in custody
may be regarded as a positive outcome ofgood law and order policies. In othercountries the option of building more gaols
may not be possible because of economic
constraints. In many jurisdictions a
combination of each of these approaches
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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
will prevail. This is certainly the case inAustralia.
Whatever the approach, rigorous
research is required to understand thecauses of overcrowding and to ensure thatwhatever strategies are adopted do produce
the desired outcome. A solid research baseis also required to make accurate
predictions about the prison population
which can then be used to inform theplanning process and decisions about the
impact of new policies and legislation. In
most jurisdictions including Australia,
there are large gaps between theory,
empirical research and practice.
In this paper I will explore some of thetheories about prison population growth.
I will then use the situation in New South
Wales as a case study to identify factors
contributing to the recent inmate
population increase. I will then outline
some of the strategies we have used andprovide an overview of why these may nothave been as effective as hoped. I am notproposing that the NSW experience isrepresentative, but that the approach toanalysing the problem has broad
applicability in all jurisdictions.
A note about comparing rates ofimprisonment between countries
The main indicator used for measuring
the use of imprisonment is the number of
persons in custody per 100,000 total
population. The number of people
imprisoned is either taken on a particulardate (usually 30 June) or from the average
daily population over a given year. While
this definition may be standardised, thefirst problem that comes when making
comparisons between countries is exactly
who is included in the total population.
Some countries for example Australia andCanada do not include offenders under theage of 18 in their counts. Other countries
maintain separate statistics for sentenced

208

and unsentenced components of the
population or are only able to account for
numbers imprisoned in federal or state
facilities and not on local lock-ups.
Forensic patients in secure psychiatricfacilities may not always be included. Somecountries include people detained for
immigration violations who are awaiting
deportation, others don’t. The problem
then with making comparisons is thatdifferences in rate may simply be
attributable to differences in the Counting
method.
A second problem is that the number ofprisoners per 100,000 population is staticand obscures the relative impacts of thefollowing dynamic determinants:•••

The relative number of inmates on
remand, the rate of admissions and thenumbers bailed, the length of stay pretrial
the relative number of sentenced
prisoners, the rate of sentenced
admissions, the average length ofdetention
the effect of parole and/or remissions

Some theories on the rate of
imprisonment
It is useful to examine some of thetheories put forward in the international
literature to account for the recent increasein numbers in prisoners. My own
experience indicates that those ingovernment who make decisions about
strategies for managing overcrowding
seldom have a good understanding of thisbody of work and this had led to ill
conceived policies.
Most of the international literature on
prison numbers has come from the UnitedStates and United Kingdom that have bothexperienced unprecedented increases in
the numbers of people in custody. In
particular I would recommend as a classic

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
text on the subject a book called The Scaleof Imprisonment by Franklin E Zimringand Gordon Hawkins which althoughpublished in 1991 is still provides a mostcompelling analysis of the American
situation. For an international comparisonof imprisonment rates read Young and
Brown’s Cross-national Comparisons of
Imprisonment1 I would also recommend apaper by Caplow and Simon published in
1999 and entitled “Understanding Prison
Policy and Population Trends”.
Theories about the determinants of theprison population have historically failed
to give planners the capacity to accurately
predict changes to the population. Thismay be because they have tended towards
over-simplification. A well known flawed
theory was put forward by Blumstein and
Cohen in 1973 who after analysing therelatively stable American prison
population prior to 1973 proposed thatpunishment was a self regulating system.
They argued that:
if prison populations get too large.
Police can choose not to arrest,
prosecutors can choose not to press
charges, judges can choose not toimprison... Similarly if the populations
drop too far below the stable rate thenpressure would develop to sanction
certain kinds of behaviour that had
previously been tolerated.
Unfortunately for Blumstein and Cohen
the population of prisoners started to climb
exponentially the following year and thisincrease has not abated.

The rate of crime and the rate of
imprisonment
There is a body of contradictory andconfusing evidence that attempts toestablish a causal relationship between therate of crime and the rate of imprisonment.
Contrary to popular and political opinion
there is no clear relationship between theimprisonment rate and the crime rate,though it has been argued that such a
relationship does exist for specificcategories of crime e.g. serious violent
crime and this category of offender.
Zimring and Hawkins compared
imprisonment rates in the USA with
reported crime rates including the FBI
index crime rates. They found:the lack of a direct and simple
relationship that would enable us tosuccessfully explain most fluctuationsin the rate of imprisonment byreference to changes in crime rates.
Young and Brown (1993) carried out acomprehensive cross national comparisonof imprisonment and concluded similarlythat:
our conclusion would be that only asmall measure of the differences inprison populations between one
jurisdiction and another or thechanges in prison populations within
particular jurisdictions seem to berelated to crime rates. Moreover tothe extent that there is a relationship,
we can not be certain that it is a causal
one.
If the rate of incarceration is not directly
related to the rate of crime then what
explains it?

1Young, Warren and Mark Brown. 1993. Cross
National Comparisons of lmprisonment. In Crime
and Justice: A review of Research, Vol 17.
University of Chicago Press

The literature can be conveniently
divided into two approaches. The first ofthese has been called ‘the deterministic
approach’ which points to the importance209

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
of factors outside the criminal justicesystem. The second approach emphasises
the impact of policy choices and attitudes
within the criminal justice system.
Deterministic Approaches
Unemployment. Possibly the earliest
attempt to unravel the determinants of theprison population were Rusche andKirchheimer who in 1939 published a bookcalled Punishment and Social Structure.
They argued that labour market forces
shaped the penal system and determined
the number of individuals in custody
independent of the policies and theories ofpunishment. This notion is still currently
pursued by some who have demonstrated
a correlation between the levels of
unemployment and the number
incarcerated. Despite some consistentfindings, high unemployment is notuniversally associated with increasing use
of imprisonment. It has been argued that
economic factors that influence
employment also have an impact onsocietal attitudes that may influence
imprisonment.
Decline in the use of Psychiatric
Hospitals. There are a number of studies
that have reported an inverse relationshipbetween the sentenced prisoner population
size and the psychiatric hospitalisation
rate. In some countries including Australia
there has been a marked tendency towards
deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill
who it has been argued are better off incommunity care. Unfortunately when thishas failed the patients end up in prison
custody.
Influence of capacity. Advocates ofprison reform have often argued that
incremental increase of prison capacity
results in a corresponding increase in theprison population. This has formed thebasis of arguments against building new
prisons when overcrowding occurs. An

210

American National Institute of Justicestudy in 1980 claimed to show this and has
been much cited in literature as evidenceof such an effect. However in 1982 the data
was re-analysed by Blumstein et al who
found the conclusions to be incorrect. They
also point out that in the USA:
there was considerable spare capacity
in the 1960’s, when crime wasincreasing but prison populations
declined. We also believe that prison
congestion or projected growth inprison population can stimulate
increase in prison capacity to meet
future needs.
Policy Choices and attitudes in the
Criminal Justice System‘Law and Order’ Policy Platforms
Many politicians respond to what they
think the public want and advocate ‘let’s
get tough on crime’ policies. Influenced by
the media, particularly popular television
dramas, the public could be forgiven forthinking they were taking their lives intheir hands as every time they walk down
the street. The news is regularly filled with
speculation about organized child sexual
abuse and high level corruption in thegovernment. Politicians, whether they arein government or waiting to be elected are
more likely to introduce harsher penalties,
increase the levels of policing and remove
discretion from the judicial focus than thereverse. During election campaigns
politicians seek to gain public confidence
and mount campaigns where theyeffectively outbid their opponents in thelaw and order stakes. Once elected,
governments then have a mandate to
introduce new legislation that may resultin increased sentences or even new offence
categories.
Levels and effectiveness of Policing.
The level of Policing has been shown tohave an impact on arrest rates and rate of

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
convictions. This can be independent of thelevels of criminal activity. A good example
is the area of illicit drug use, which incountries like Australia, USA and UK isalmost endemic in certain parts of the
population. If the Police were to target
certain locations then the arrest andconviction rate could be doubled.
Outstanding warrants may not be pursued
if they are a low priority, but if the numberof Police is increased this could create more
opportunity for arrests.
Activity of courts. The level of court
activity can influence the number of people
in custody in a number of ways. The
number of unsentenced people in custodyis largely an outcome of the time it takes
to bring matters to trail and sentencing.
Lengthy court backlogs will result in larger
numbers of people in custody on remand.
Increasing the activity of courts results inshorter remand periods, but may also
increase the number of sentenced
receptions, particularly those on Bail.
Loss of faith in Rehabilitation. There
are few correctional issues that haveattracted as much debate in thecorrectional literature as the possibility ofrehabilitation. Although the ‘nothingworks” slogan attributed to Robert
M a r t i n s o n i n t h e 1 9 7 0 ’s h a s b e e ndisregarded in favour of the view that somethings work, the impact of this loss of faith
in the rehabilitative process continues tohave some impact in some jurisdictions
particularly where it can be used torationalise spending. Faith and lack offaith in rehabilitation can both result inincreases in the prison population
depending on policy implications. The useof remissions and flexible parole
opportunities has been eroded in many
countries in favour of ‘truth in sentencing’legislation that ensures that thoseincarcerated serve a designated minimum
term or even a mandatory term.

Alternatively e.g. the belief that drug
rehabilitation programmes in custody are
effective will ensure that a person isincarcerated in favour of community based
programmes. There are numerous
examples of policies which directly
emphasise or de-emphasise the role ofimprisonment having a corresponding
impact on the size of the inmate population.
There are also examples in the literatureof policies that have failed to have thedesired impact. E.g. there are numerous
examples of alternatives to custodial
sanctions that have failed in that they haveresulted in an increase rather than adecrease in the numbers in custody
through the process of net widening.
Moral Panic. High profile crimes,
particularly unusually violent offences
involving women and children have beenshown to have significant impacts on theprison population. The sense of moral
outrage that follows these events coupledwith the view that the very fabric of society
is being threatened can have both direct
and indirect consequences for the criminal
justice system as a whole. In the United
Kingdom following the murder of a youngboy (Jamie Bulger) by other children, there
was evidence of a shift away from leniency
in sentencing. In Australia the murder of
two young girls in a remote coastal area by
two men one who was on Bail the otherperiodic Detention, resulted in the removalof the presumption in favour of Bail for
certain offences and in the changes to therevocation processes for periodic detainees.
Both of which I will demonstrate later
contributed to the rise in the inmate
population.
Court Sentencing Practices. Whileeach of the factors that have been describedabove may influence the number of people
in custody, it has been shown than it is not
the number of admissions, but changes tothe length of sentence that has the greatest

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
impact on the number of people in custody.
More specifically it is an increase in thenumber of people serving longer sentencesthat will have the greatest effect. Increased
Sentence lengths have become a reality insome countries through the introduction of
mandatory sentencing, truth in sentencing,‘Three strikes and you are in”, sentencing
guidelines etc. These remove judicial
discretion. Prescriptive sentencing rarely
works to reduce sentence lengths.
It usually left to the courts to determine
who will participate in alternatives to fulltime prison sentences. There has been
mixed success with these strategies but a
lot of criticism for net widening despite
carefully constructed legislation
II. NEW SOUTH WALES - A CASE
STUDY
The New South Wales Department ofCorrective Services is responsible for the
management of approximately 7400
offenders in full-time custody, 1300
offenders on periodic detention and 17600
offenders subject to community
supervision. New South Wales is one ofsix states and two territories, who manage
their own criminal populations. There isno federal system and New South Wales,
the state with the highest populationaccounts for close to one third of people
imprisoned in Australia.
The operations and management of the
Department have changed dramatically inthe past 25 years. The introduction of
specialised programmes for inmates,
intensive training for staff, specificmanagement plans for women andaboriginal inmates, and case management,
combined with increased levels of inmate
participation in education and work
programmes, among other things, havealtered the practice of corrections in thisstate.

212

The fundamental tenet that “A person
is sent to prison as punishment and not
for punishment” 2 is reflected in the
Department’s mission to provide safe andhumane conditions for those incarcerated.
This Department plays a crucial role in
the justice system but it does not determine
the number of people sent to prison.
Sentencing trends and the level of judicial
use of alternatives to full-time
imprisonment are issues best addressed by
the judiciary.
III. RECENT TRENDS IN THE NSWPRISON POPULATION
The graph on the following page shows
the daily average number of inmates in
NSW correctional centres (excluding
periodic detainees) in the period fromJanuary 1988 to November 1999. Detailed
data including the breakdown into males
and females is given in Appendix 3. The
graph and associated data show that:• in the four years from January 1988
to January 1992, the prison
population grew rapidly. The male
inmate population rose from 3750 to
5679, a rise of 1929 (51.4%), and thefemale inmate population rose from204 to 331, a rise of 127, (62,3%).
These increases occurred mainly inthe three years following thecommencement of the Sentencing Act
1989 in September 1989. The
Sentencing Act 1989 introduced theprinciple of ‘truth in sentencing’
which removed the capacity forremissions and increased the lengthof time served. It should also be notedthat the strength of the NSW Police
Service increased from 11,236 in 1987
2

Report of the Royal Commission into New South
Wales Prisons, NSW Government Printer, 1978,
pages 49-51. See also recommendations 6 and 7 of
the Nagle Report, on page 463.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
to 12,857 in 1992, an increase of 1621
(14.4%)• in the five years and six months fromJanuary 1992 to June 1997, theprison population continued to riseslowly, bearing in mind the timespan. During this period the male
inmate population rose from 5679 to
6039, a rise of 360 (6.3%), while thefemale inmate population rose from33lto 365, a rise of 34 (10.3%)• in the next nine months, from June
1997 to March 1998, the male inmate
population changed little, while thefemale inmate population fell
substantially. In these nine months,
the male inmate population fell from6039 to 5959, a fall of 80 (1.3%), but
the female inmate population fell
from 365 to 294, a fall of 71 (19.5%).
The reasons for this substantial fallin the female inmate population are
not known• in the two years from, from March
1998 to March 2000, the prison
population grew rapidly. The male
inmate population rose from 5959 to
7,000, a rise of 1,041 (17,5%), and thefemale inmate population rose from
294 to 452, a rise of 148 (50%). Thishigh figure is partially explained,
because the starting point, March
1998, recorded such a low female
inmate population.

Populatoin of inmates in full time custody

8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000 Jan
1988

Jan
1989

Jan
1990

Jan
1991

Jan
1992

Jan
1993

Comparisons with other Australian
Jurisdictions
The recent growth in the New South
Wales prison population can be compared
to trends in prison populations throughout
Australia and the rest of the world subject
to the qualifications I have alreadymentioned.
The rate of imprisonment in New South
Wales increased from 133.1 to 152 per

Jan
1994

Jan
1995

Jan
1996

Jan
1997

Jan
1998

Jan
1999

Jan
2000

100,000 adults, a rise of 14.2%, between
the beginning of 1995 and the third quarterof 1999 (Australian Bureau of Statistics
figures published in December 1999). The
increase in the rate of imprisonment in
New South Wales was exceeded by rises inother Australian jurisdictions during thisperiod. The imprisonment rate in
Queensland increased from 109.6 to 191.3
per 100,000 adults, a rise of 75%. The
imprisonment rate in Western Australia

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
increased from 158.9 to 216.2 per 100,000
adults, a rise of 36%. The imprisonment
rate in Victoria, which traditionally has
had a comparatively low imprisonment
rate, increased from 69.8 to 83.5 per
100,000 adults, a rise of 19.6%. South
Australia reported the lowest increase in
the rate of imprisonment of any Australianjurisdiction. In South Australia the raterose from 118.6 to 120.6 per 100,000 adults,
a rise of 1.7%.
The ratio of women inmates per 100,000
population in New South Wales was 13.5
in 1998, the rate had been 17.4 in 1992. In
1998 women were imprisoned in this Stateat a lower rate than in Queensland (20.5),
Western Australia (23.4), Northern
Territory (45.9), and South Australia (14).
The Australian Capital Territory reported
a female imprisonment rate of 5.1 per
100,000 population which was the lowest
rate of any Australian jurisdiction The
national average in 1998 was 14.4.
The United Kingdom (UK) reported anincrease in its rate of imprisonment from96 to 125 per 100,000 adults, a rise of 30%,
between 1994 and 1998. During the period
1987 to 1997, the average female prison
population in the UK rose by 51%. This
rise was substantially higher than the 24%
rise in the male population during the same
period. The UK recorded an 18% rise in
its average female prison population from1996 to 1997 compared with a 10% rise inits male population.
The United States of America (US)reported an increase in its rate of
imprisonment from 403 to 645 per 100,000
adults, a rise of 60%, between 1995 and1998. The number of men and women in
US state and federal prisons rose by 4.7%
and 6.5% respectively in 1998. This was
the third consecutive year in which theincrease in the female prison population
exceeded the increase in the male214

population. In the US, during the period
1990 to 1998, the number of female
prisoners grew by 92% compared with agrowth of 62% in the number of maleprisoners.
The Netherlands, which in the past has
had a relatively low imprisonment rate, has
not been immune to the worldwide trendof increasing imprisonment rates. The
Netherlands recorded an imprisonment
rate of 51 per 100,000 population in 1993.
The imprisonment rate rose to 75 per
100,000 in 1997 and to 85 per 100,000 in
1998.
IV. DYNAMIC PROCESSESUNDERLYING THE RECENT RISE
IN THE NSW PRISON POPULATIONAs reported above, the dramatic increaseof over 50% in the NSW inmate population
between 1988 and 1992, can be attributed
to the introduction of the Sentencing Act
1989. This legislation introduced theprinciple of ‘truth in sentencing’ whichremoved the capacity for remissions andincreased the length of time served. The
population stabilised in 1992 by which timeit has been argued Judges compensated forthe impact of the legislation in some cases
imposing shorter sentences. Truth insentencing legislation was adopted
following a scandalous episode in thecriminal justice history of NSW where aGovernment Minister, in collusion withothers was found to be taking bribes toensure the early release of criminals. The
Minster himself ended up in custody.
The next period of rapid expansion which
occurred in the period from 1997 to thepresent is not so easy to explain. In thenext section of this paper I will workthrough the component changes in theinmate population with a view todetermining what may have brought about
this increase.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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Immediate causes of a rise in a
prison population
The actual number of people imprisoned
at any point time depends on four factors:
1. The number of persons received onremand
2. The length of time they stay on remand
3. The number of persons starting asentence of imprisonment
4. The length of time they serve.
Data from NSW for the period from 1997
to 1999 corresponding to each of thesefactors is presented below.
Factor 1. The number received onremandTable 1 (below) shows unsentenced
receptions for the past three financial years
Table 1
Unsentenced Receptions
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99
Male receptions
7083
7252
8571
Female receptions
714
788
1080
This table shows that the number of
unsentenced receptions grew somewhat
between 1996-97 and 1997-98, but that the
number jumped substantially between
1997-98 and 1998-99, especially the
number of female receptions,
A high number of inmates on remandplaces intense demand on Departmental
resources and staff. A high number ofremandees means a high number of inmate
movements3, both to and from court andbetween correctional centres. It also meansthat there are more inmates on protection
3

In 1996-97 the Department made 100,462 inmates
movements; in 1997-98 the figure was 111,636; andin 1998-99 the figure was 127,318 inmate
movements. Source: NSW Department ofCorrective Services, 1998/99Annual Report,
page12and more inmates who are unable toassociate with other nominated inmates in
the correctional systems. The higher thenumber of these inmates, the greater thechallenges in terms of placing inmates insuitable accommodation.
Remandees are, generally speaking,much more unsettled than convicted
inmates who largely accept their situationand try to adapt to prison life.
Factor 2. Length of time spent on
remandTables 2 and 3 (below) show unsentenced
male and female receptions over the past
three financial years, divided into those
who spent 30 days or fewer on remand andthose who spent more than 30 days on
remand4:
Table 2
Unsentenced male receptions shownby time spent on remandTime on remand 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99
30 days or fewer 4970
5066
5810
More than 30 days 2113
2186
2761
Total
7083
7252
8571
Table 3
Unsentenced female receptions
shown by time spent on remandTime on remand 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99
30 days or fewer
553
618
829
More than 30 days 161
170
251
Total
714
788
1080
It can been seen from Table 2 that the
number of unsentenced male receptions
grew somewhat between 1996-97 and 199798, but that the number jumped
substantially between 1997-98 and 199899, both for short-term and long-term
4

NSW Department of Corrective Services, Research& Statistics Unit

215

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
remandees. Table 3 shows that the numberof unsentenced female receptions grew
somewhat between 1996-97 and 1997-98,
but that the number jumped substantiallybetween 1997-98 and 1998-99, especiallythe number of female inmates spending
fewer than 30 days on remand. One
conclusion which can be reached from
Tables1, 2 and 3 is that the length of timespent by inmates on remand has been asignificant driving force behind the rise in

the prison population.
Factor 3. The number of Sentenced
receptions
Table 4 (below) shows the most serious
offence category for male and female
sentenced receptions for the past two
financial years5:
It can be seen from Table 4 that theincrease in the number of male receptions
between 1997-98 and 1998-99 occurred

Table 4
Male and female sentenced receptions during 1997-98 and 1998-99
Most serious offence category
Homicide
Assaults
Sexual offences
Robbery
Fraud
Property
Dangerous driving
Driving under the influence
Driving without a license
Breach of parole
Cancelled periodic detention order
Breach of home detention order
Breach of Drug Court order
Breach of recognizance (bond)Breach of community service order
Breach of apprehended violence order
Other offences against order
Use/possession of illegal drugs
Selling illegal drugs
Importing illegal drugs
Making/cultivating illegal drugs
Other offences
Total

Male Receptions
1997-98
1998-99
46
55
1052
1166
268
241
386
473
214
231
1728
2059
78
98
212
231
176
270
388
542
354
466
21
48
0
13
88
85
114
86
120
118
126
122
41
64
269
281
57
52
28
23
90
77
5856
6801

5

216

Female Receptions
1997-98
1998-99
5
10
77
73
1
1
27
45
44
60
217
229
6
10
9
5
1
14
39
47
29
35
3
10
0
4
10
11
10
11
4
3
11
17
6
9
34
35
11
11
2
1
8
5
554
646

NSW Department of Corrective Services, Research& Statistics Unit

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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mainly in the following categories: property
offences (331); breach of parole (154);
assaults (114); cancellation of periodic
detention orders (112); driving without alicence (94); and robbery (87).
The increase in the number of female
receptions between 1997-98 and 1998-99
occurred mainly in the following categories:
robbery (18); fraud (16); driving without alicence (13); and property (12).

It should be emphasised that Table 4shows the flow of male sentenced receptions.
It is not a “snapshot” at a particular date.
“Snapshots” of the number of male andfemale sentenced inmates in custody, as at
30 June 1998 and 30 June 1999 sorted on
the basis of their most serious offence
category, are shown in Table 5.

Table 5
Male and female sentenced inmates as at 30 June 1998 and 30 June 1999
Male Receptions
Most serious offence category
Homicide
Assaults
Sexual offences
Robbery
Fraud
Property
Dangerous driving
Driving under the influence
Driving without a licence
Breach of parole
Cancelled periodic detention order
Breach of home detention order
Breach of Drug Court order
Breach of recognizance (bond)Breach of community service order
Breach of apprehended violence order
Other offences against order
Use/possession of illegal drugs
Selling illegal drugs
Importing illegal drugs
Making/cultivating illegal drugs
Other offences
Total

30 June
1998
440
633
640
791
165
1087
68
93
50
259
136
9
N/A
28
28
21
59
27
316
186
38
61
5135

30 June
1999
460
641
619
876
174
1155
95
100
101
352
228
16
1
34
29
21
59
26
324
208
35
56
5608

Female Receptions
30 June
1998
26
30
3
32
34
68
5
23
10
1
N/A
3
4
7
5
20
11
2
1
285

30 June
1999
29
37
3
37
37
76
9
1
3
29
15
4
1
3
4
2
7
2
25
14
2
340

217

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
Factor 4 Length of time served
Table 6 (below) shows the length of time
served/to be served by male sentenced
inmate receptions for the past threefinancial years6:

Table 7 (below) shows the length of time
served/to be served by female sentenced
receptions for the past three financial
years7:

Table 6Time served/to be served* by male sentenced receptions
Time served

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

0-3 months
3-6 months
6-12 months
1-2 years
2+ years
Total

1962
1317
1224
606
454
5563

2094
1428
1232
601
501
5856

2565
1708
1317
635
576
6801

*

Increase between
96-97 and 98-99
603
391
93
29
122
1238

time served/to be served = sentenced reception date to end of fixed or minimum
term
Table 7
Time served/to be served* by female sentenced receptions
Time served

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

0-3 months
3-6 months
6-12 months
1-2 years
2+ years
Total

236
134
71
33
25
499

293
122
79
35
25
554

333
158
87
33
35
646

*

time served/to be served = sentenced reception date to end of fixed or minimum
term

Many inmates are in prison for long
periods of time, indicative of theseriousness of their crimes. As at 30 June
1999 there were 5594 male sentenced
inmates. Of this number, 3208 (57.3%)
were serving sentences of two years or
more. As at June 1999 there were 340
female sentenced inmates. Of this number,
6

NSW Department of Corrective Services, Research& Statistics Unit
7 NSW Department of Corrective Services, Research& Statistics Unit

218

Increase between
96-97 and 98-99
97
24
16
0
10
147

140 (41.2%) were serving sentences of two
years or more8.
What is influencing these factors?
Increases and decreases in the above
factors may be the direct and indirect resultof changes in:
5. Crime rate
6. Police activity
7. Court activity/outcomes8

NSW Department of Corrective Services, Research& Statistics Unit

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
8. Breach of orders.
Crime Rate
Overall the crime rate in NSW during
the period from 1997 to 1999 did notincrease. The NSW Bureau of Crime
Statistics and Research in 1999 issued amedia release stating:
For the first time in more than adecade NSW has no rising crime
problem.
...Between July 1997 and June 1999
there were falls in sexual assault(down 17per cent), indecent assault
and related offences (down 20per
cent), robbery with a firearm (down29per cent), and motor vehicle theft(down 14per cent).

The Local Court in New South Wales
deals with the vast majority of criminal
charges laid by police.
According to the report there have been
increases in appearances for offences in the
categories of: good order (+12.3%),
environmental (+11.0%), against justiceprocedures (+9.8%), drug (+8.6%), driving(+5.7%), and theft (+4.7%).
There was a particularly large
increase (+32.6%) in the number of
appearances for “other offences
against good order”. This was mainly
due to new provisions in the Summary
Offences Act which prohibit thecarrying of knives10.

During the same period however, thenumber of Murders increased by 7% (from112 to 121), common assault increased by
6%, fraud increased by 8%.

The Police Service has reported thatarrest figures increased in 1998-99 by thefollowing percentages, compared with theprevious year:
Breaching bail conditions+33%
Goods in custody+15%
Drink driving offences+22%
Driving while disqualified+48%
Possession/use of cocaine+48%
Possession/use of narcotics+32%
Possession/use of cannabis+ 8%11.

Police activity
On 24 September 1999 the NSW Bureauof Crime Statistics and Research publishedthe New South Wales Criminal Courts
Statistics 1998. When doing so, the Bureau
issued a media release stating:

The Police Service also reported that the
proportion of police in the front line had
increased as follows since 1996:
1996
74% of police “in front line”
1997
83%
1998
85%12.

There have been significant increases
in the number of people brought before
the Local Court on criminal charges,
according to the annual court
statistics report of the NSW Bureauof Crime Statistics and Research.

10 NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research,

Perhaps not surprisingly, measures oflaw enforcement activity are
significantly higher now than they
were two years ago.99

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research,
NSW Recorded Crime Statistics: Quarterly Update
June 1999 Media Release, 6 August 1999

Media Release: NSW Criminal Courts Statistics
1998, 24 September 1999
11 NSW Police Service, 1998-99Annual Report,
page 13
12 NSW Police Service, 1998-99Annual Report,
page 4219

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
Court activity/outcomes
Variations in the level of resources
allocated to criminal matters by the courts,
in any given year, are likely to have a direct
impact on the inmate population. The
Report Key Trends in crime and Justice199913 shows that between 1995 and 1999
there was an increase in the number ofcases brought before the Local Court andan increase of 24.3 % in the percentage ofindividuals refused bail by the local courts.
In the District Court Bail refusals were up
10.6 % in the period from 1997-1999 but
the number of new cases registered went
down by 11.4%. On 12 December 1998 theBail Amendment Act 1998 commenced.
This Act increased the number of offences
for which there is no presumption of bail.
In its media release of 24 September
1999, referred to previously, the Bureau of
Crime Statistics and Research alsocommented:
The use of imprisonment ... appears
to have increased in the Local Court.
In 1997, 5,881 people (6.4per cent of
those found guilty) were sentenced toa term of imprisonment by a Local
Court. In 1998, the number of people
given a sentence of imprisonment by
a Local Court rose by 12. 4per cent, to6, 612 people (or 7.0 per cent of thosefound guilty).
The number of persons brought before
the NSW Higher Criminal Courts did
not increase between 1997 and 1998.
However, the use of imprisonment did
increase.
In 1997, 1,588 people (61.9 per centof those convicted) had a sentence ofimprisonment imposed on them by theDistrict or Supreme Court. In 1998,
this figure rose by about 9 per cent, to
1,736 people (or 63.1 per cent ofconvicted offenders).14
The Report Key Trends in crime andJustice 199915 shows that between 1997
and 1999 the number of persons sentenced
to imprisonment for cases finalised in the
Local Courts had increased by 19.8%(5,841-6,995), and that the average lengthof sentence imposed by the Local Court on
women had increased by 13.9% during thesame period. (There was no significant
change in sentence length for men in thelocal court during this period.). In theDistrict Court the number of new cases
decreased by 11.4% from 1997-1999, but
the number of women found guilty who
received a prison sentence was up by
36.2%.
A recent publication by the Bureau of
Crime Statistics and Research, whichanalysed the recent rapid rise in the female
prison population in NSW, concluded:
In the Local Court:• There has been a substantial
increase in the overall number ofwomen convicted in the NSW
Local Court.
• In addition to the increased
number of women found guilty, theproportion receiving prison terms
has also increased. This isprobably due to convictions foroffences against the person andagainst justice procedures
accounting for a greater proportionof offenders, as well as theincreased popularity of prison as
14 NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research,

13 NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Key

Trends in Crime and Justice 1999, June 1999

220

Media Release: NSW Criminal Courts Statistics
1998, 24 September 1999

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
a penalty for some offences dealt
with in Local Courts.
• Sentence length has also risen
slightly.
In the Higher Courts:• The overall number of women sent
to prison from the Higher Courts
has increased over the past five
years, despite the number ofconvictions dropping by 31.5 per
cent,• The increase in women sent toprison may be due to the numberof convictions for robbery (forwhich prison is a common penalty)
nearly doubling over the past five
years.
• In addition, the proportion of
female offenders receiving prison
terms for robbery property crimes,
and drug offences has increased
over the past five years.
Therefore, the increase in female
imprisonment [from “early 1998”] islikely to be due to both harsher
penalties handed down by the courts,
and a shift in the types of offences
being committed by women towards
those more likely to receive prison
penalties. The growth in the numberof women appearing in court foroffences such as robbery may berelated to the general growth in heroin
use among women.16

A factor which may start to affect therise in the inmate population is thehanding down by the Court of Criminal
Appeal of Guideline Judgments.
In 1999 the Court of Criminal Appeal
handed down four Guideline Judgments.
In R v Jurisic, Spigelman CJ said:
As in England, it appears that trial
judges in New South Wales have notreflected in their sentences theseriousness with which society
regards the offence of occasioning
death or serious injury by dangerous
driving.17
In R v Henry Barber Tran Silver
Tsoukatos Kyroglou Jenkins, Spigelman CJ
said, after reviewing sentencing statistics
relating to armed robbery:
These statistics strongly suggest bothinconsistency in sentencing practiceand systematic excessive leniency inthe level of sentences. They justify
the promulgation of a guideline
judgment.18
On the other hand in R v Wong & Leung
Spigelman CJ said, after reviewing
sentencing patterns relating to heroin andcocaine offences:
In such circumstances theconsiderations relating toinconsistency arid to systematic
inadequacy of sentences to whichreference is made in Jurisic andHenry...do not arise.19

15 NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Key

Trends in Crime and Justice 1999, June 1999

17 R v Jurisic (1999) 101 A Crim R 259 at 269

16 Fitzgerald, Jacqueline: Women in Prison: the18 R v Henry Barber Tran Silver Shoukatos Kyroglou

Criminal Court Perspective, Crime and Justice
Statistics Bureau Brief, Issue Paper No.4, NSW
Bureau of Crime and Statistics Research, December
1999

Jenkins (currently unreported) [1999] NSWCCA
111, at paragraph 110
19 R v Wong & Leung (currently unreported) [1999]
NSWCCA 420 at paragraph 113

221

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
Similarly in In the matter of the AttorneyGeneral’s Application (No.1) Grove J said,
after reviewing sentencing patterns
relating to break, enter and steal:
I am unpersuaded that the material
to which the Court has been referredleads to a conclusion that there has
been shown to be a general patternof leniency...20.
Breach of orders
If a periodic detainee, home detainee, orparolee breaches his/her order, the court
or Parole Board (as the case may be) islikely to revoke the order and issue awarrant for the apprehension of theoffender and his/her return to prison. If aperson serving a community service order
or a person under a bond breaches theconditions of the order or bond, the court
may sentence the offender to
imprisonment.
On 1 February 1999 amendments to the
Periodic Detention of Prisoners Act 1981
commenced. These amendments shiftedfrom the courts to the Parole Board thefunction of cancelling periodic detention
orders (if a periodic detainee fails to comply
with the requirements of periodic
detention, the detainee is liable to have his/her periodic detention order cancelled).
Under the previous system, cancellation
procedures were taking many months forlisting and determination.
There was an increase in the number ofcancellations of periodic detention orders
in 1999. The Parole Board made initialdeterminations to cancel 1126 orders in the
12 months from 1 February 1999. The
courts cancelled 424 orders in 1997-98. The
Board later reviewed its decisions to cancel
20 In the matter of the Attorney-General’s Application(No. 1) (currently unreported) [1999] NSWCCA 435
at paragraph 28

222

588 of these orders, as required by law. Of
the cases reviewed, the decision to cancel
the order was rescinded on 125 occasions
and cancellation was confirmed in the other463 cases. Of the cases in whichcancellation was confirmed, on 25 occasions
the remainder of an offender’s sentence wasconverted to an order for home detention.
In 1999, the Parole Board revoked thehome detention orders of 86 offenders
which was 17 more than in the previous
year.
In 1999, the Parole Board revoked theparole of 1159 offenders which was 223
more than in the previous year.
What does the NSW Case Study Showus?
• The number of persons received onremand has increased significantly
between 1997 and 1999. This may due
to the combined impact of the increasein the number being refused Bail andthe increase in Police activity, but it is
not linked to an increase in criminal
activity.
• the length of time spent on Remand has
increased significantly• the number of sentenced inmates
received in custody increased during
the same period. Major increases wereseen in the numbers serving sentences
for property offences, breach of Parole,assaults and cancellation of periodic
detention orders. These categories ofoffences are unlikely to have attracted
lengthy sentences.
• the number of people serving sentences
greater than two years increased by
26% in the period from 1997-1999 and
30% for those sentenced to less than 3months.
• the number of people who had theirparole order, home detention order or
periodic detention order revokedincreased.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
Each of the above factors has contributed
to the increased inmate population. Given
that there has been no demonstrated
equivalent increase in criminal activity, theissues that are most likely to haveinfluenced this include:
•
•
•
•
•

increased levels of Policing
removal of the presumption in favourof Bail
reduced tolerance of Parole violations
reduced tolerance of periodic detention
order violations(net widening)
increase in the length of additionalterm served by inmates

In a recent article on Australia’s Risingprison Population21, Arie Frieberg points
to a more subtle force at work.
There is no one single factor...
responsible for the steady but
significant increase in Australianprison numbers. Although the levelof crime differs between states as does
the mix of offenses, there is no evidence
of increases concomitant to theincreases in the prison populations.
... rather the explanation is to be foundin the courts’ reaction to legislative
signals and calls for “tougher”
penalties and sentences.
Frieberg includes among these signals
increased statutory maximum
penalties; statutory changes in theaims of sentencing to favour
incapacitative sentences; introducing
indefinite sentences, mandatory andminimum sentences; requiring
cumulative rather than concurrent
sentences; and emphasising the rights
and interests of victims of crime in thesentencing process.
21 Frieberg, Arie Understanding Rising Prison

Populations In Australia, Overcrowded Times,
October 1999.

V. DEALING WITH
OVERCROWDING
As I indicated at the outset, developing
an understanding of the causes of theincreasing prison population is a necessary
precursor to developing strategies to deal
with it. This includes developing models
to predict future trends.
It is not required however for Capital
Wo r k s s o l u t i o n s t h a t i n c l u d e t h econstruction of new facilities, the adaptive
reuse of old building stock and the
expansion of existing facilities are a logicalsolution, but may be beyond the means of
the government or correctional authority.
In NSW currently, construction and orplanning is underway for three newcorrectional centres catering for men andwomen. This has become controversial andsubject to a review by Parliament spurred
on by groups who believe that building
more gaols is an unacceptable solution.
I do not intend to explore the capital
works solutions in this paper (as they are
obvious) other than to mention that there
is a body of literature about correctional
centre design that promotes innovativebuilding technologies. Among the morecurious solutions to the shortage ofaccommodation is a Western Australia
example where steel shipping containers
have been converted to temporary inmate
accommodation. In western NSW a remoterural town that had been abandoned by therailways has been purchased as acorrectional centre and base for mobile
prison camps that operate in nationalparks in the region.
Reducing The Number of People in
Full Time Custody
Reducing the number of people incustody is I believe is a better objective,
though often harder to achieve. There arethree groups of options for achieving this.

223

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
1. Reversing those processes that havebeen found to have a causal impact(from the NSW case study for example
this could include for example reducing
P o l i c e a c t i v i t y, r e s t o r i n g t h epresumption in favour of Bail andreducing court delays. Only the last ofthese would be an acceptable option.)
2. Developing alternatives to full timecustody eg Home Detention
3. Adopting decarceration policies eg
decriminalization
Alternatives to imprisonment
In NSW imprisonment is intended to bea last resort. The imposition of Section
80AB of the Justices Act 1902 states that“a Justice or Justices shall not sentence a
person to full-time imprisonment unlesssatisfied, having considered all possible
alternatives, that no other course isappropriate”. This was reinforced under
Section 5 of Crimes (Sentencing Procedure)Act 1999 which states that “a court must
not sentence an offender to imprisonment
unless it is satisfied, having considered all
possible alternatives, that no penalty otherthan imprisonment is appropriate”.
In New South Wales, the following are
regarded alternatives to full-time
imprisonment22.
• fines• probation in its various forms (orderunder section 556A of the Crimes Act
1900; order under section 558 of the
Crimes Act 1900; order under section
432 of the Crimes Act 1900; order under
section 554 of the Crimes Act 1900;
common law bonds, including the“Griffiths bond”)• community service orders• periodic detention orders• home detention orders• Drug Court orders• Suspended Sentences

224

The Probation and Parole Service, whichis part of the Department of Corrective
Services, is responsible for managing
offenders in the community. The caseloadof the Probation and Parole Service has
increased in recent times, in particular,
there was a 14% increase in the number ofsupervised probation orders made by the
courts in the period December 1997 to
December 1998. The number of theseorders increased by a further 5% between
December 1998 and December 1999. The
Probation and Parole Service also assists
judges and magistrates to make sentencing
decisions by providing them with presentence reports.
Pre-sentence reports
Pre-sentence reports are not alternatives
to imprisonment. It is appropriate,however, to mention them here as presentence reports play an important role inassisting a court to decide whether toimpose a custodial sentence or a noncustodial sentence.
Judges and magistrates frequently
require information about an offender toassist them in determining an appropriate
sentence. Offenders are remanded, eitherin custody or on bail while a probation andparole officer prepares a report. The reportprovides verified information regarding theoffender’s circumstances, an assessment of
the offending behaviour, and any additional
22 Except for Drug Court orders, the alternatives listed

have been taken from the report of the New South
Wales Law Reform Commission on sentencing(Report No. 79, December 1996). The Drug Court
commenced in February 1999. The Drug Court isable to make an initial sentence to the effect that
an offender go to a correctional centre fordetoxification and then attend a community-based
program. If the offender fails to comply with theterms of the initial sentence, the court may set aside
its initial sentence and make a final sentence which
may mean imprisonment.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
information relevant to sentencing. The
report also includes an assessment of an
offender’s suitability for periodic detention
and a range of community-based
sentencing options such as community
service work, an attendance centre order,
supervised probation, ability to comply
with a monetary penalty, and any otherspecified programmes consideredappropriate. A proportion of the offenders
on whom a pre-sentence report is preparedinevitably will receive a full-time custodial
sentence due to factors such as theseriousness of their crime and theircriminal antecedents.
The Probation and Parole Service
provided 17,931 pre-sentence reports to thecourts in 1995-96. In 1996-97, 18,624
reports were provided and 20,167 were
provided in 1997-98. In 1998-99, 22,832
pre-sentence reports were prepared which
was 4,901 more than four years previously.
An example of a pre-sentence report isprovided in Appendix 16.
Fines
Courts have imposed fines as analternative to imprisonment for hundredsof years. The Fines Act 1996, which
commenced on 27 January 1998,
introduced a fine enforcement system
which is based on a hierarchy of civil andnon-custodial sanctions for the nonpayment of fines with imprisonment beinga sanction of last resort. Under the system,a court will only issue a warrant ofcommitment if a fine defaulter fails tocomply with the conditions of a community
service order. The Fines Act 1996 does not
apply to fines/warrants issued by the
Commonwealth or other States or
Territories.
The Fines Act 1996 has diverted all NSW
fine defaulters from prison (there areusually about three interstate finedefaulters in the NSW correctional system

at any one time). Prior to thecommencement of this Act, a significant
number of fine defaulters entered thecorrectional system. In 1995-96 and 199697, for example, 3,936 and 4,474 finedefaulters respectively entered thecorrectional system. It should be noted thateventually some persons will enter thecorrectional system because they have notcompleted community service orders madeunder the Fines Act 1996.
Probation orders
The various probation orders under the
Crimes Act 1900 have been with us formany decades; the notes to the Crimes Act
1900, contained at the end of the Act, state,for example, that section 556A was inserted
into the Act in 1924. The “Griffiths bond”,
under which an offender may be released“to allow the court to assess their behaviour
and capacity for rehabilitation before
imposing an appropriate sentence” 23,
derives from the case of Griffiths v The
Queen (1977) 137 CLR 293.
An offender may be placed on probation
supervision as a condition of entering intoa recognizance (bond) to be of good
behaviour. Probation is a sentence which
combines sanctions for re-offending, or
failing to comply with the conditions of therecognizance, with case management. The
probationer is given assistance to develop
goals and skills which are directed towarda law-abiding lifestyle through attendance
at programmes organized by the Probation
and Parole Service. The programmes arelisted at Appendix 15.
In 1998-99, 8,394 offenders were placedon probation supervision which was 1,090
more than in the previous year. Eightyseven percent (12,067) of the probation andparole orders completed in 1998-99 were
23 NSW Law Reform Commission, Sentencing, Report

No. 79, December 1996, page 83

225

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
completed successfully. In December 1999,
1,889 women were subject to probation
supervision which was 8% more than in
December 1997.
Community service orders
Community service was introduced in1979 as an alternative to imprisonment.
When the then Minister for Corrective
Services, Bill Haigh, introduced theCommunity Services Bill, he said on two
occasions during the second reading speechthat “this sentencing measure should
operate as an alternative to
imprisonment”24.
The NSW Law Reform Commission, in
its discussion paper on sentencing, noted
research carried out by the Judicial
Commission which showed that it was
doubtful that community service orders
have always been used solely as analternative to imprisonment 25 . The
Department considers that the original
purpose of community service - as analternative to imprisonment - has, in manycases, disappeared. Nevertheless,community service orders are a valuable
and often used sentencing option whichenables offenders to develop work skills
and make constructive use of their time.
A community service order can be
imposed with an offender’s consent. Judges
and magistrates may sentence suitably
assessed offenders to perform community
work to a maximum of 500 hours. Under
24 NewSouth Wales, Parliamentary Debates(Hansard), Legislative Assembly, 29 November
1979, page 4258
25 NSW Law Reform Commission, Sentencing,
Discussion Paper No. 33, April 1996, pages 337338, referring to Bray R & Chan, J, Community
Service Orders and Periodic Detention as
Sentencing Options: A Survey of Judicial Officers
in New South Wales. Judicial Commission of NSW,
Monograph Series No.3, April 1991

226

the scheme, offenders perform unpaid workat non-profit agencies. Community service
orders are available across the state. As
at 30 June 1999 there were 5,345 offenders
supervised under community service
orders which was 373 more than at thesame time in the previous year. Eightytwo percent (7,901) of the community
service orders completed in 1998-99 werecompleted successfully. The increase inboth probation orders and community
service orders indicates that sentencing
authorities have not forsaken these options
in favour of custodial sentences.
Periodic detention orders
Periodic detention was introduced in1971 as an alternative to full-time
imprisonment. When the then Minister for
Justice, John Maddison, introduced the
Periodic Detention of Prisoners Bill, he said:
Under the proposed legislation courts
will...be able to sentence an offender
to a term of imprisonment for not lessthan three months or more thantwelve months in the ordinary way
but may order that the sentence beserved as a sentence of periodic
detention26.
In 1998 the Judicial Commission of New
South Wales published a monograph on
periodic detention. The monographdiscussed at some length whether the
introduction of periodic detention had led
to net-widening; that is, whether courts,
had imposed periodic detention in cases
where, but for the existence of periodic
detention, the offender would have received
a non-custodial sanction. The Commission
concluded that net-widening had occurred,and stated:

26

New South Wales, Parliamentary Debates(Hansard), Legislative Assembly, 18 November
1970, page 8041

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
A root cause of net-widening appears
to lie in the perception of the courtsthat periodic detention is a lenient
disposition and not “equivalent” tofull time imprisonment.... The
legislature clearly envisages a link
between full time custody and theimposition of a term of periodic
detention.
The amendments to the periodic
detention legislation that commenced
operation on 1 February 1999 strengthened
the criteria against which those facing
sentence are assessed for suitability forperiodic detention. The amendments
removed any doubt as to the requirementthat a court must sentence a person to
imprisonment before considering whether
to make an order for periodic detention.
Periodic detention is available foroffenders who live within a reasonabledistance of a periodic detention centre.
Courts are provided with pre-sentence
reports by the Probation and Parole Service
which contain relevant information about
offenders in relation to matters such as:
alcohol and other drugs; psychiatric or
psychological conditions; criminal record,
employment and other personal
circumstances. When making a decision
about periodic detention, the courts also
take into consideration an offender ’s
accommodation arrangements and accessto suitable transport. As mentioned earlier
in this paper, amendments to the Periodic
Detention of Prisoners Act 1981 haveresulted in an increase in the number ofcancellations of periodic detention orders.
There are currently 1,302 offenders withcurrent periodic detention orders.
Home detention orders
Home detention was introduced in 1997
as an alternative to full-time
imprisonment. The object of the Home
Detention Act 1996, as stated at thecommencement of the Act, is:An Act to provide for home detention
as a means of serving a sentence ofimprisonment in certain cases.
In order to preserve home detention as
an alternative to imprisonment, and thus
avoid net-widening, section 11 of the Home
Detention Act 1996 requires that a court
must first sentence an offender to
imprisonment before calling for anassessment report from the Probation and
Parole Service as to the offender ’s
suitability for home detention. A review of
the Home Detention Act 1996 concluded
that:
The HD Act was successful in limiting
the potential for systematic netwidening within the criminal justicesystem by allowing access to a homedetention assessment only after an
offender had been convicted of
criminal charges and sentenced 27.
In 1998-99, 350 offenders were admitted
to the home detention program. Of these,
83% were men and 17% were women.
Seventy-eight percent (258) of homedetention orders completed during 199899 were completed successfully. The Weekly
States for 16 January 2000 shows that, asat that date, there were 141 offenders onhome detention orders. As home detention
is truly an alternative to imprisonment, on
16 January 2000 there were 141 offenders
serving a sentence outside a correctional
centre who, prior to the commencement of
the home detention scheme in February
1997, would have been serving a sentence
inside a correctional centre.

27 Heggie, Kyleigh.

Review of the NSW Home
Detention Scheme, Research Publication No.41.
NSW Department of Corrective Services, May 1999,
pages vii-viii.

227

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
Drug Court
The Drug Court is a special court withthe responsibility for handling offences
committed by people who are dependent on
prohibited drugs. The Drug Court helps adrug dependent offender to deal with hisor her drug dependency by combining
medical treatment services withcomprehensive and intensive supervisionby the Probation and Parole Service.
To be eligible to be referred to the Drug
Court an offender must, among otherthings, be likely to be sentenced to
imprisonment for the offence with which
the offender has been charged. If the Drug
Court decides that an offender is eligible
for the program and the offender is willingto obey the conditions of the court, the court
will ask the offender to enter a plea of guilty
to the offence. The Drug Court will thenconvict the offender for the offence. The
sentence will then be suspended while theoffender satisfactorily participates in the
program. The sentence is reviewed when
the Drug Court program ends.
The Drug Court was opened in February
1999. As of 3 February 2000, the Drug
Court had made 226 orders. Of these, 189
were in relation to men and 36 in relation
to women. There were 121 active
participants in the program as of this date.
The Drug Court program is a trial programand is limited to 300 participants.
Suspended sentences
Suspended sentences have not been asentencing option in NSW since 1974 when
they were abolished. The Crimes(Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, reintroduced suspended sentences. Undersection 12 of the Act, a court that imposesa sentence of imprisonment on an offender
for a term of not more than two years may
make an order suspending execution of thesentence and directing that the offender bereleased from custody on condition that the228

offender enters into a good behaviour bondfor a term not exceeding the term of thesentence.
Under section 99 of the Act, if a court
revokes the bond for breach of theconditions, the order under section 12
suspending the sentence ceases to haveeffect and the offender must serve thewhole of the original sentence in prison.
The court may, however, make an orderdirecting that the sentence ofimprisonment to which the bond related(disregarding any part that may havealready been served) be served by way of
periodic detention or home detention.
It remains to be seen whether suspended
sentences will truly divert offenders fromprison, as has been the case with othersentencing options, if offenders persistently
breach the conditions imposed. If thebreach rate is high, suspended sentences
may deliver offenders to prison rather thandivert offenders from prison.
NSW has implemented a range ofalternative programmes some of whichhave clearly diverted people from prison.
The major risk with all “alternative
sentencing options” is that sentencing
authorities may impose those penalties on
offenders who would not otherwise havebeen given a custodial sentence. While thesame, or similar, number of offenders may
be sentenced to prison, a wider circle oflesser offenders are brought within the“net” of the alternative penalties. When aproportion of those offenders breach theterms of their orders, they run the risk offull-time imprisonment. Despite measurestaken to stop this from happening there isevidence of a significant net widening effectparticularly for Community Service Orders
and Periodic Detention
The other cautionary note is thatalternative sentencing options are usually

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
applied to those who would otherwise havereceived a relatively short sentence.
Logically, then large numbers of people inthis category will have to be diverted tohave a sustained impact on the prison
population. ( E.g. If 24 people who would
have been sentenced to 1 month in custody
are diverted in a 12 month period thiswould result in a reduction in the prison
population of only 2 people.)
Decarceration options
There are a variety of policies other thanalternative sentencing options that seek toreduce the number of people in custodythese include:•••

Decriminalisation e.g. removal of
criminal sanctions from Cannabis
related drug offenses.
Executive adjustments - pardoning andamnesties
Sentencing Reform - e.g. Minnesota
Sentencing Commission

Rationalising Resources
On a more pragmatic level overcrowding
can be addressed through therationalisation of resources. As I indicatedin the introduction, overcrowding is usuallymore than just a problem of bed shortages.
It is usually accompanied by a shortage ofresources. The most costly resource in theprovision of corrections is usually staffing.
Rationalisation can not compromise theagreed standards of care or nationalcorrectional standards that are usuallyderived from international charters ofprisoners rights and conditions.

sections of a correctional centre.
Correctional Programmes that are often
staff intensive and expensive also need to
be rationalised. In NSW we have adopted
a case management model and embraced
the risk, needs and responsivity
framework, which, when fully
implemented will ensure that those whopose the highest risk of reoffending are
targeted for the provision of programmes
and services.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
Overcrowding which is the outcome of
the interaction between a number ofdynamic factors can be managed with good
research and commitment. The simplest
way to do this, which is to create more
accommodation and to secure additional
resources may not be possible or desirable.
Causal factors are difficult to identify andto influence however there are a numberof remedial strategies that can be
implemented to reduce numbers. To beeffective, alternatives to imprisonment
must be imposed on those who would
otherwise be in full time custody.
Legislation must be thoughtfully drafted
to reduce the possibility of net-widening,
Strategies that result in shorter
sentences will be more effective than
reducing the number of short sentenced
admissions.
LECTURE 2 MANAGING WOMEN,FOREIGNERS AND DRUG USERS
I. INTRODUCTIONIn NSW some the strategies that havebeen adopted to some effect include••

reducing time out of cells (down tominimum of 8 hours in maximum
security gaols)
rolling lockdowns - which results in thescheduled and rotated lockdown of

In New South Wales, the Department ofCorrective Services has common objectives
for all inmates irrespective of their gender,race or offending profile. Two key result
areas as expressed in the Corporate Plan
are:

229

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
1. Managing Offenders - Safely andeffectively manage offenders while
enforcing the orders of the court anddischarging the ‘duty of care’;
2. Reducing Offending Behaviour-provide
opportunities and encouragement foroffenders to acquire insights and skills
to positively address deficits or
addictions associated with offending
behaviour.
The Department has adopted CaseManagement as the primary strategy for
managing all inmates.
Case Management is defined as:...a collaborative, multi-disciplinary
process which assesses, plans,
implements, co-ordinates, monitorsand evaluates options and services tomeet an individual’s needs (Inmate
Case Management Policy 1999).
After initial information is collected
about:• the inmate’s offence;• needs in relation to AOD issues;• mental health issues• health, welfare and education needs• work needs,
a case plan is developed by a multi
disciplinary Case Management Team. Thisinitial case plan will determine theinmate’s security classification andplacement and will make recommendations
concerning the type of treatment, education
and work interventions needed. When an
inmate is transferred to a correctional
centre of classification, the case plan isfurther developed by the CaseManagement Team and the inmate is
assigned a case officer. It is the role of thecase officer to monitor the inmate’s
progress on the case plan and to encourage
the inmate to participate in programmes,

230

work and counselling if appropriate. The
case plan is reviewed every 6 months by
the Case Management Team.
Case Management is the mostsignificant correctional activity
implemented by the Department in the last
10 years and is the process driving majorcorrectional reform. Through CaseManagement barriers between custodial
and non-custodial staff are gradually
breaking down as custodial staff take up a
more significant role in the managementof offenders rather than only the securecontainment of offenders. The Department
has recently commenced down a newpathway for assigning programmes andinterventions in the inmates case plans.
The new approach has been very muchinfluenced by the Canadian approach as
highlighted in the work of Andrews, Bontaand others28.
The profile of male and female offenders
in custody in NSW is different. Current
research shows that in the overall inmate
population:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

over 15% of inmates are Aboriginal or
Torres Strait Islander
26% are from a non English speaking
background (NESB)
28% are aged between 18-24
13% have an intellectual disability
75 % have an alcohol and other drug
(AOD) problem
16% of males have been sexually
abused before the age of 16
21 % have, attempted suicide
40% meet the diagnosis of Personality
Disorder
60% not functionally literate or

28 See as an example Andrews, D.A.., et al (1 990) Does

Correctional Treatment work? a clinically-relevant
and psychologically informed meta-analysis.
Criminology, 28 369-404

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS

•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•

numerate
44% were long term unemployed
60% did not complete year 10
64% have no stable family
over 35% are Hepatitis B or C positivein custody exceeds 10% of the total
population. However there are recent
indications of a disproportionate increasein the number of women. This is certainly
the case in Australia.

In the female population:

The research literature on ‘what works’has tended to neglect the interventions
provided for women, though it has been
confirmed29 that the principles of risk, need
and responsivity are equally important forgetting the best outcome for women.

25% are Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Islander39% previously attempted suicide
23% on psychiatric medication
73 % admitted to psychiatric or mental
health units
women have significantly higher levelsof illicit drug use, Hepatitis C,
depression and sexual abuse than men.
II. MANAGING WOMEN

It is clear from the above data thatwomen in custody are confronting different
issues. While these issues may not beuniversal, cross-national comparisonsshow considerable overlap. Women incustody are more likely to be victims ofphysical and sexual abuse, have issues
arising from their responsibilities tochildren, be addicted to drugs and to havemental health problems. Tables 4 and 5
also confirm that the offense profile forwomen in Australia is different to men,with women less likely to be convicted of
sexual assault and armed robbery, butmore likely to have been convicted of fraud.
Where women have been convicted forviolent offenses they are twice as likely as
men to have committed these offenders
against someone close to them, often theirspouse of partner who may have physicallyabused them.
Historically, the management andprogramming for women in custody has
tended to mimic what is done for men who
are in the majority. There are few
jurisdictions where the number of women

Programmes that are devised
specifically for women should take accountof women’s needs and responsivity. Their
greatest needs are for treatment of
substance abuse problems, trauma, basic
education and vocational training andparenting skills.
Barbara Bloom30 provides an excellent
overview of guiding principles andpractices for programming for women
offenders. She suggests that program
design must also provide an environmentthat supports recovery and is characterisedby Safety (“free of physical, emotional andsexual harassment”), Connection(“exchanges among the treatment groupfacilitator and group members feels mutual
rather than one way”) and Empowerment.
Programmes must also contain cognitive,
affective and behavioural components.
A recent national survey in the USA31,
confirmed the profile of female offenders
outlined above and noted that:

29 Andrews, D.A., and Craig Dowden, 1999.

A metaanalytic investigation into effective correctional
intervention for female offenders. lnterventions.
Canada30 Bloom, Barbara; 1999, Gender-responsive
programming for women offenders: guiding
principles and practices; Interventions, Canada,
1999

231

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
The most commonly mentioned
management problem, noted in 11
states was in the area of classificationand screening... (which) did notprovide needed information, were notadapted to women, and were notuseful in matching women’s needs for
programming.
New South Wales a roach to
managing women.
In NSW the management of women
offenders has been driven by a series ofaction plans. The Women’s Action Plan 2
will be the guiding force for the
Department’s Women’s Program over the
next three years. This plan exists within
the broader context of the Department’s
Corporate Plan
The Department’s Strategic Plan
stipulates the priorities which must informthe further development of the Women’s
Program both in terms of capital works
initiatives and service provision. In
accordance with these overarching policies,
the Women’s Action Plan 2 emphasises:•

the delivery of programmes andservices reflecting a holistic approach
to women’s health and well-being;
the provision of flexible programmes for
women inmates in the areas ofrelationship and living skills, problem
solving, alcohol and other drugs andhealth education, vocational training,offence-specific programmes andrecreational activities;
the planning and management of
resources to ensure their equitableprovision;••

In June 1994, the Department ofCorrective Services published its first

Women’s Action Plan. It outlined a seriesof capital works strategies and maderecommendations concerning the provisionof programmes and services relevant to theneeds of women in the NSW correctional
system.
Since 1995, placement options,programmes and services for female
inmates have improved significantly:
•

•

•

•

31 National

Institute of Justice, 1998, Women
Offenders: programming Needs and Promising
Approaches. U.S. Department of Justice232•

in addition to the main women’s facility,
the Mulawa Correctional Centre, whichcurrently accommodates
approximately 285 sentenced andunsentenced female inmates, the Emu
Plains Correctional Centre wasestablished as a minimum security
facility for 138 women. A small 19 bed
facility for women (June Baker Unit) is
operating at the Grafton Correctional
Centre, and a separate unit for up to 8
women at the Broken Hill. Correctional
Centre. In 1996, the 21 bed ParramattaTransitional Centre for women andchildren was officially opened;a Women’s Services Unit (WSU) wasestablished with a mandate to provide
policy advice and advocacy at senior
management level of the Department
concerning the needs of female
inmates;a female-specific classification scheme
was introduced which takes into
account the circumstances ofincarcerated women. The underlying
principle of this is that women are lowrisk of violent offending but high need,
they generally do not requireconfinement in a secure facility and theprimary determinant of placement
should be program provision.
a Mothers and Children’s Program wasdeveloped to ensure that young
children of women serving a custodial
sentence were able to maintain an
ongoing relationship with their mother.
The Women’s Action Plan 2 will build

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
on the success of the Department’s
Women’s Program by consolidating theearlier capital works, policy andprogram initiatives.
The new strategies concerning the
Women’s Program have been derived fromseveral important sources including
consultation with inmates, Departmental
staff and community organisations andfollowing a systematic review ofprogrammes services and facilities:
The Mothers and Children’s Program,
the Transitional Centre Program, a GenderSpecific Classification and the Jacaranda
Cottages at the Emu Plains Correctional
Centre were initiated by the first Women’s
Action Plan. These are major initiatives
in the management of female inmates anda critical assessment of the impact andeffectiveness of these programmes is thelogical next step to ensure the consolidationof those strategies recommended in thefirst Women’s Action Plan. In evaluatingthese innovative policy and program
initiatives, the Department has not founda body of existing relevant research.. The
following evaluation framework is
proposed:••

short-term outcome measures, e.g.,
program participation, rule violation
and/or incidents, arrest for new
criminal offence;long-term outcome measurements, e.g.,
return to custody for violation ofprobation or parole, relapse fromalcohol and other drug recovery,
observed significant behaviour change,
employment status, type of new offence,
seriousness of new offence.

The evaluations will use recidivism as
an outcome measure of the effectiveness ofthe programmes but will combine
quantitative and qualitative researchmethods.

Mothers and Children’s Program
The recommendations of the Women’s
Action Plan in regard to mothers andchildren provided the impetus for thedevelopment of the Mothers and Children’s
Policy.
In developing the Mothers andChildren’s Program, the Department has
put the best interests of the children of
mothers who are serving a full-time prison
sentence at the highest priority. The
Department recognised that the continuity
in the relationship between the primarycarer and child is of great importance tothe child’s emotional, intellectual and social
development. The Department also
recognises that imprisonment in itself isneither evidence of a mother’s lack of desire
nor of her ability to perform her parental
duties.
The contradiction between providing
such as program for women and thecommitment to developing policies which
do not reinforce stereotypes is
acknowledged. However, women’s
statistical dominance in the correctional
system as primary care givers and the bestinterests of the children whose primarycare giver is imprisoned make thiscontradiction a necessary one. Secondary
benefits of the program include a likely
reduction in re-offending behaviour ofparticipants and alleviation of the distressand anxiety associated with the forced
separation from children.
The Department provides a range ofoptions to female inmates who wish to
assume an active parenting role. Primarycarers, irrespective of whether they are thebiological mother, are eligible to participate
in the program. Non-primary carers are
eligible to participate in the occasional
residence program with the writtenconsent of the primary carer of the child orchildren.

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
The Mothers and Children’s Program
includes the following options:•••permitted absence pursuant to Section
29(2)(c) of the Correctional Centres Act.
caring for child or children full time
whilst in custody, up to school age. ie
The Full Time Residence Program.
occasional accommodation for children
such as weekends and/or school
holidays up to the age of 12 years. (The
Occasional Care Program)

These options are administered with asmuch flexibility as possible in order to meetthe needs of individual women andchildren. Decisions regarding Section
29(2)(c) absence and the Full Time
Residence Program are made after asubmission is placed before the Mothers
and Children’s Committee.
Once the applicant has satisfied thecriteria for the program, the submissions
are then placed before the Committee anddiscussed. The application is thenrecommended for approval or notrecommended. The Co-ordinator thenplaces the submission before the AssistantCommissioner Inmate Management andthen to the Commissioner for final
approval.
The guiding principles of the policy are:the best interests of the child is theparamount consideration;• imprisonment in itself is neither
evidence of a mother’s lack of desire,
nor of her ability to perform herparental duties;• p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e F u l l Ti m e
Residence Program is the option of lastresort, to be utilised when there are nosatisfactory alternatives for theplacement of the child or children
available;• children residing in, or spending time
at a correctional centre are the sole
•

234

•

•

responsibility of their mother;p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e F u l l Ti m e
Residence Program must never be used
as a part of the hierarchy of privileges
and sanctions;
the Mothers and Children’s Program isdesigned to meet the highest
community standards of childprotection.
Since December, 1996 until January,
2000 the Mothers and Children’s
Program has been responsible forassisting;

Section 29(2)(c) absence
Full time
Residence Program
Occasional
Care Program

Women

Number ofchildren

10

19

21

23

34

46

With the planned expansion of Emu
Plains, it will be possible to also
expand the Mothers and Children’s
program to provide more beds.
Employed at Emu Plains is a Family
Support Worker who is involved daily inthe operation of the Program. This person
has developed and introduced to the Centre
a network of community agencies that
support the women and their children. The
women are also assisted with a pre-releaseplan through Inmate Development staff
who also run such groups as; Domestic
Violence, Alternative to Violence Groups,
Drug and Alcohol Counselling,
Psychological Counselling, Welfare
Assistance, Education.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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III. MANAGING THOSECONVICTED OF DRUG RELATEDOFFENSES
One outcome of the increased pattern ofdrug use in the community has been adisproportionate increase in the number ofdrug users in custody. As previously
mentioned over 75 % of people in custodyin New South Wales admit to having
alcohol or other drug problems. Drug abuse
itself is criminogenic in that it can lead tocriminal behaviours. This can be throughthe disinhibiting and other effects of drugs
on behaviour and through the activities
people engage in to get money to support
h a b i t s . I l l i c i t d r u g u s e , s u p p l y,
manufacturing and importation may all
result in criminal sanctions including
imprisonment for lengthy periods.
Part of the response to drug use inprisons, must include action to eliminate
drug trafficing into prisons. Increasingly
t h e u s e o f t e c h n o l o g y, i n c l u d i n gsurveillance, urinanalysis, ultrasound has
been introduced to combat this problem inconjunction with more traditional
techniqies of searching, use of sniffer dogs
and intelligence. However, the use of drugs
in prisons will be difficult if not impossible
to eliminate because of the requirement toallow prisoners reasonable contact withfamily and friends and because of thepossibility of staff corruption. As well as
attempting to eliminate drugs, correctional
authorities have an obligation to minimise
the harmful effects of drugs and to provide
opportunities to treat addiction and help
break the drug/crime cycle.
What works?
While many drug treatment
programmes have been individually
evaluated, there are few large scale reviewsof effectiveness of treatment programmes.
An excellent report that has recently been
completed by Pearson and Lipton32 whoreported positive outcomes for, intensive‘therapeutic community’ intervention,
methadone maintenance and cognitive
behavioural programmes. ‘Boot Camps’
and drug focussed group counselling
programmes were not shown to be effective.
This has been reported elsewhere.
Alcohol and Other Drug Services in
NSW
The Alcohol and Other Drug Health
Promotion Unit (AOD/HHPU) provides
services to inmates within the ‘harm
minimisation’ framework. Its core businessis to assist inmates reduce the harm (bothindividual and social) associated with
substance use, as well as facilitate healthpromotion workshops and courses that
educate inmates on safer practices relating
to substance use, universal infection
control issues and healthy lifestyles. These
courses are run in each centre.
The harm minimisation framework iscontentious, and those who favour
abstinence often express the view that it isan admission of failure. It has been
adopted in NSW because drug use isregarded as complex social and medical
phenomenom rather than a criminal one
and because failure to adopt has
undesirable public health consequences
particularly in the transmission of HIV and
Hepatitis C.
Programmes and services are provided
to male and female inmates that address
issues of relapse, substance related
recidivism and health promotion projects.
Within this brief there are specificprogrammes targeting women, indigenous
inmates, inmates with intellectual
disabilities, inmates from NESB and young
32 Pearson, F.S and Douglas Lipton, 1999; A meta-

Analytic Review of the Effectiveness of Correctionsbased Treatments for Drug Abuse; The Prison
Journal, Vol 79 N04, December 1999

235

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
adult offenders. There are drug free wings
in 3 centres, and a Therapeutic Unit willcommence at Long Bay in July 2000. These
programmes focus on pre release andtransition and are part of the Department’s
commitment to through care andcommunity involvement. A work inprogress is the AOD Women’s Transitional
Centre for female offenders and theirchildren. (See Appendix 1 for acomprehensive list of programmes)
AOD Workers provided services toinmates on 245,109 occasions and increaseof 67,278 since 1997/98; attendance at AOD
group sessions during 1998/99 increased to
22,008 from 18,240 in 1997/98.
Intensive Alcohol and Other Drug
Programmes
The Alcohol and Other Drug Health
Promotion Service has implemented
various strategies to address the needs ofthose inmates who have identified ashaving a substance use problem. These
strategies range from the Core AOD HHPU
Programmes, Peer Support Programmes
and the contributions of various
community organisations to the more
specialised and intense programmes thatwill address the issues of relapse andrecidivism for inmates with high incidenceof relapse.
A treatment pathway for these inmateshas been developed, starting at entry to a
“Drug Free Wing” and extending to a prerelease/transition program for C2 and C3
category inmates. The Drug Free wings
are in three Correctional Centres,
Parramatta, Emu Plains and Cessnock.
These wings operate within the normal
gaol routine and the programmes andservices attached to these areas have an
extensive group work component andcommunity involvement. Inmates whoenter these wings are selected through anassessment criteria which includes236

remaining time to service of not less than
3 months and no more than 6 months.
They are required to sign a contract inrelation to participation in the program andare subject to random urinalysis testing.
The urinalysis procedure will work under
the umbrella of harm minimisation, thatis, there will be a hierarchy of punishments
and the use of relapse prevention tools as
an education strategy.
For women, this Drug Free Wing will run
along the same gaol routine as the males,
however, it will focus more on living skills,
parenting issues, job skills and conflict
resolution in terms of their substance use.
All of the programmes attached to theseprojects will have a strong CBT theoretical
approach, with the long term aim of
reducing offending behaviours.
The AOD Therapeutic Unit located at
Long Bay will house 40 men and is a prerelease program, with inmates being in thelast 12 - 14 weeks of their sentence. The
program content will be strongly linked tothe community, and will facilitate social
supports, networks with housing, TAFE
and Centre Link, as well as nongovernment agencies involved in the
rehabilitation of these inmates. There will
be a family component to this program andinvolvement with Probation and Parole.
These intensive programmes have been
well researched and whilst it isacknowledged that addiction is a complex
issue with many variables, this whole ofcommunity approach to service provision
looks promising in terms of successful
outcomes. All programmes in this unit will
be educational, therapeutic and cognitively
based. The same local policy in relation tourinalysis at Parramatta Drug Free will
apply to this unit.
The Lifestyles Units, (one for men in the
MSPC and a work in progress for womenat Mulawa) will address the issue of

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
healthy living in relation to HIV/AIDS and
Hepatitis. These units have programmesthat are holistic and give the residents
factual information based on research into
the use of alternative medicines.
Following the NSW Drug Summit, which
was held in May 1999, funds were provided
to expand the Department’s alcohol andother drug services. Key features of the
expansion include: the establishment of
three detoxification units; theestablishment of a transitional centre forwomen with AOD problems; theestablishment of three healthy lifestylezones (drug free wings); a proposed review
of AOD programmes and services. All ofthese projects are in the development and/or implementation stage.
Assessment, Detoxification andPharamacotherapies
The provision of appropriate medical
intervention is also a fundamental
requirement. In NSW a Drug and Alcoholassessment is a routine component of thereception medical screening which iscompleted within hours of arriving incustody. Where an inmate self reports ahistory of recent drug use and displays
clinical signs of withdrawl, a medical
detoxificaiton regime commences. The
protocol applied depends on the nature andintensity of drug use. It is most common
however for prisoners to be poly-drug
abusers, with the current drugs of choiceincluding combinations of heroin,amphetamines, barbiturates, and alcohol.
The protocol could require intensive
supervision in a detoxification ward orunder 24 hour camera surveillance.
Medication is also provided to alleviate
withdrawal symptoms that could include,nausea, vomiting cramping andconvulsions.
NSW was one of the first jurisdictions
to introduce methadone maintenanceprogrammes and recent research continues
to confirm the success of this particularly
in reducing transmission of Hepatitis C.
HIV is not a major problem in NSW gaols.
Clinical trials are now set to commence
in prisons on the effectiveness of a numberof new drugs including Naltrexone andLong Acting Methadone (LAM).
IV. MANAGING FOREIGNERS
The issues surrounding themanagement of foreign born prisoners will
be very different between countries.
New South Wales is one of the mostculturally diverse societies in the world.
••

41 % of the NSW population was eitherborn overseas or has at least one parent
born overseas
25 % are from non-English speaking
countries.

It is not surprising to find large numbersof people who come from non-English
speaking backgrounds in prison as this isrepresentative of the general population.
There are a number of challenges howeverarising from this complex racial mix.
In 1996 the NSW parliament enshrined
the principles of cultural diversity. Theseare
Principle 1: All individuals in NSW shouldhave the greatest possible
opportunity to contribute to all
aspects of public life.
Principle2: All individuals and public
institutions should respect
and accommodate the culture,
language and religion ofothers within an Australianlegal and institutionalframework where English is
the primary language.

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
Principle 3: All individuals should havethe greatest possible
opportunity to make use ofand participate in relative
activities and programmes
provided or administered byt h e N e w S o u t h Wa l e s
Government
Principle 4: All public institutions in NSW
should recognise the linguistic
and cultural assets in the
population of NSW as avaluable resource andpromote this resource tomaximise the development of
the State
As an instrument of government, theNSW department of Corrective Services
under this charter has a number ofobligations which focus on language,
cultural and religious differences of theinmate population.
Inmates from non-English speaking
backgrounds who are well represented in
the inmate population include, Middle
Eastern (mainly Lebanese), Polynesianand Pacific Islanders, and Vietnamese.
The Department’s efforts are focussed n
a number of areas.
1. Communication
which involves the mandatory use ofinterpreters in range of interactions.
Multi-lingual translations of key
information documents
2. Recruiting and training
actively recruiting staff from key
language and cultural groups,
provision of cultural awarenesstraining
3. Programmes
development of targeted programmes
eg English as a second Language,
AOD programmes for Vietnamese
inmates etc

238

4. Religion and culture
Facilitating religious and culturalactivities for key groups
5. DietAccommodating specific dietaryrequirements including Halal,
Kosher &Vegetarian
To foster the appropriate attitudes andskills among staff, my division has recently
completed an interactive training programon CD ROM that is designed to inform staff
about the special needs of prisoners from
non-English speaking backgrounds. I will
be demonstrating this CD-ROM during mytalk and providing a copy for course
participants.
A concerted effort is still required
because despite the best efforts of the
Department, prejudice and discrimination
within the inmate population and between
inmates and staff remains a problem.
Gangs
A further issue that has recently arisen
has been the increasing influence of gangaffiliations in the inmate population.
Gangs are not entirely racially based,
however there has been recently been anumber of disturbances where inmateshave been divided on racial lines. The
major race based Gangs are Vietnamese,
Lebanese, Aboriginal and Pacific Islanders.
Associations between these groups appear
to be fluid. One of the dilemmas that arises
in managing these groups is whether theyshould be permitted to aggregate in a single
location or whether they should be
dispersed. Clustering of ethnic groups has
some benefits for the concentration ofservices but acts to reinforce the gangmentality.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
APPENDIX 1
INMATE PROGRAMMESProgram
Relapse Prevention Program

Harm Minimisation Drug Education
ProgramDrink Driving Surviving Program
Quit Smoking Program
Anger Management Program
Alcohol and Violence Program

AOD [Acohol and Other Drugs]
Aw a r e n e s s f o r R e m a n d I n m a t e s
Program
Staying Alive Program
Methadone Lifestyles Program

AOD Peer Education Program

One-day Peer Support Program

Three-day Peer Support Program
Sweepers Program
Barber Shop Program

What the program does
Inmates learn techniques to assist themto maintain, during the remainder of theirtime in prison and after release, changes
in relation to their drug and alcohol use
Inmates learn how to identify harms
associated with their substance use andhow to reduce those harms
Inmates learn the risks associated withdrink driving and how to put in place stopbehaviours upon return to the community
Inmates learn the health risks associatedwith smoking and receive a set ofstrategies to quit
Inmates learn more appropriate ways ofhandling their stress and their current
responses to crisis
Inmates learn about violence in all its
forms - in particular, the relationshipbetween alcohol and violence - and learn
techniques to stop or severely limit that
violence
Inmates on remand or with low literacy
make the connection between their crimes
and prison, and put in place strategies toreduce recidivism
Intellectually disabled inmates take partin a program which facilitates learning in
relation to their drug use
Inmates learn about the effects ofmethadone, health and hygiene associatedwith methadone, social implications ofmethadone and coping skills
Inmates gain skills to enable them to be amentor to other inmates with a drug
problem by initiating health promotion
activities
Inmates learn how to mentor otherinmates in relation to risk behaviours,
how to promote healthier living and how
to use infection control procedures
Same as one-day program but at greater
depth
Inmates learn about infection control
procedures and cross-infection and how to
use chemicals safely
Inmates learn the duties of a barber,including infection control procedures,and how to clean barber shop equipment
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ProgramMens Health Program (joint program with

Smoking Cessation Program (joint
program with Corrections Health Service)
Mothers and Children Program

Personal Ownership Identification and
Self Esteem Program (POISE)
Women’s one-day health information
package
Women’s three-day health information
package
Women’s Health Program (joint programwith Corrections Health Service)
Stop-Doin’-Harm-to-Yourself Program

Say-No-to-Grog Program

Getting Respect Program

Alcohol and Violence Program

Intro to Aboriginal AA [Alcoholics
Anonymous] Program
Aboriginal one-day health information
package
Aboriginal three-day health information
package
Women’s Cultural Drug Package Program

Pat gets a deadly new life

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What the program does
Inmates identify issues relating totesticular and prostate cancer, healthy
heart and diet
Inmates follow the Quit Smoking Programwith continued awareness of emphasis on
health risks to self and others
Inmates are granted leave of absence tocare for their small children; children canlive with their mothers or have all-day
visitsFemale Inmates learn living skills and arelinked with community agencies for followup upon release
Inmates identify the risks associated withdrug use and put in place strategies toreduce the level of risk
Same as one-day package but at greater
depth
Inmates identify health issues specific towomen, such as breast cancer, diet andimage
Indigenous inmates undertake a harm
minimisation drug education program
designed specifically for themIndigenous inmates learn that they areable to choose whether or not they will
follow the example of peers who drink
Indigenous inmates learn that violence is
not the way to get true respect from theircommunity
Indigenous inmates undertake an alcoholand violence program designed specificallyfor them, with an emphasis on family
violence issues
Indigenous inmates obtain social support
through a self-help network
Indigenous inmates identify the risks
associated with drug use and put in placestrategies to reduce the level of risk
Same as one-day package but at greater
depth
Female indigenous inmates identify thesocial implications of drug use and makechoices rather than be influenced by peers
and society
Indigenous inmates identify the risks
associated with use of particular
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AOD Peer Education Program for
Vietnamese Inmates
Vietnamese health information package

Certificate of General Education for
Adults• Reading and Writing• Numeracy• Oral Communication• Options-

Library and Research Skills

-

Art

-

English as a Second Language-

Horticulture-

Information Technology-

Workplace Communication-

Graphic Design-

Ceramics-

Stained Glass-

Screen Printing-

Painting and Decorating-

Sewing and Craft

-

Music

-

Health and Fitness-

Backhoe/Loader/Forklift-

Leather draft-

Chain-saw Operation-

Horsemanship-

Woodwork-

Textile Upholstery-

Aboriginal Studies-

Hospitality-

Video Production-

Calligraphy-

First Aid-

Legal Studies-

Maori Studies

-

Drama

-

Cooking-

Small Business Management

Vietnamese inmates undertake the AOD
Peer Support Program designed
specifically for them
Vietnamese inmates learn how to assess
their risk behaviours and replace thosebehaviours with more appropriate
behaviours
This Certificate may be undertaken at
three levels. Level 1 is roughly
equivalent to Year 10 secondary
schooling. Level 3 may allow a person
to gain university entry to particular sub
jects.
Four subjects must be studied at level 1.
Three subjects must be studied at level 2.
Two subjects must be studied at level 3.

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External attendance courses
TAFE courses- First Aid- Ceramics- Information Technology- Community Services Welfare- Engineering Production- Clothing Production- Carpentry- Rural Welding- Cleaning Operations- Computing Skills- Cooking/Hospitality- Commercial Cookery- Small Motor Service- Kitchen Practice- Horticulture Operations- Upholstery- Adult Foundation Education- Bricklaying- Painting/Decorating- Cabinet-making- Forest Products Operations- Welding- Farm Chemical User
- Small Business Management- Forklift Operating- Fitness Instruction

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Selected inmates are granted leave ofabsence to attend courses held byeducational institutions

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
Certificate of General Education for
Adults• Reading and Writing• Numeracy• Oral Communication• Options (Mulawa)- Pottery- Music- Legal Studies- Creative Writing- Paper-making- Aerobics- Food and Nutrition- English as a Second Language- Art- Landscaping• Options (Emu Plains)- Ceramics- Paper-making- Music- Art- Koori Art- Life Skills- Horticulture- Information Technology- Screen-printing
The range of options available at Graftonand Broken Hill Correctional Centres
are necessarily more limited.
External attendance courses

This Certificate may be undertaken at
three levels. Level 1 is roughly
equivalent to Year 10 secondary
schooling. Level 3 may allow a person
to gain university entry to particularsubjects.
Four subjects must be studied at level 1.
Three subjects must be studied at level 2.
Two subjects must be studied at level 3.

Selected inmates are granted leave ofabsence to attend courses held byeducational institutions

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TAFE courses (Mulawa)- Adult Foundation Education- Focus on Skills- Horticulture- Aboriginal Mentor Training- Forklift Operations- Information Technology- Occupational Health and Safety- Painting and Decorating- Building and Construction- Creative Activities for Children- Manufacturing Engineering
TAFE courses (Emu Plains)- Children and Play
- Hospitality- Information Technology- First Aid- Forklift Operations- Tractor Operations- Small Motor Service- Painting and Decorating- Office Practice
Additional courses available for Aboriginal inmates
Aboriginal inmates may attend any mainstream course. Courses designed specificallyfor Aboriginal inmates are:
• Aboriginal Native Gardens• Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Practice• Aboriginal Mentor Training• Aboriginal Dance• Aboriginal Art• Aboriginal Carpentry and Joinery• Aboriginal Vocational Preparation• Aboriginal Mural• Aboriginal Dance• Aboriginal Industry
Additional education courses available for ethnic inmates
The only educational course specifically designed for ethnic inmates is English as a
Second Language.

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APPENDIX 2
INTENSIVE RESIDENTIAL UNITS
Unit
Kevin Waller Unit
Malabar Special Programmes Centre

Acute Crisis Management Units
Bathurst Correctional Centre
Cessnock Correctional Centre
Malabar Special. Programmes Centre
Lifestyles Unit
Malabar Special Programmes Centre

Violence Prevention Programmes
Alexander Maconochie Unit and Special
Care Unit
Malabar Special Programmes Centre
Healthy Lifestyles Zone (Drug-Free Wing)
Parramatta Correctional Centre
Emu Plains Correctional Centre
Intensive Case Management Unit
Goulburn Correctional Centre

Long Bay Hospital
Mum Shirl Unit
Mulawa Correctional Cehtre
Additional Support Units
Special Purpose Centre, Long Bay
Goulburn Correctional Centre
Detoxification Units
Metropolitan Remand & Reception Centre
Mulawa Correctional Centre
Jacaranda Cottages
Emu Plains Correctional Centre
Transitional Centre, Parramatta
Sex Offenders Program
3 and 4 wing and CUBIT at the MSPC
Young Adult Offenders Program
Gurnang Life Challenge Program Oberon

Relevant inmates
Inmates chronically at risk of suicide, withhistories of self harm because oflongstanding poor coping skills and severe
personality disorder.
Inmates in acute crisis and at risk of selfharm or suicide.

Inmates who are diagnosed with HIV or
Hepatitis C who wish to undertake an
intensive health education program toassist them to come to terms with theirillnesses
Inmates who are convicted of violent
offences and or exhibit violent behaviour
in prison.
Inmates who have been drug-affected andare prepared to participate in a special
program to assist them to remain drug freeand prepare them for release
Inmates who do not comply with normal
prison discipline and are assessed as
dangerous to others or as high risk ofescape.
Inmates who are physically or
psychiatrically ill
Female Inmates with chronic psychiatricillnesses, personality disorders or
intellectual disability.
Inmates who have an intellectual
disability and are unable to manage in themainstream environment.
Inmates undergoing detoxification after
reception into the correctional system
Female inmates and their children. The
children live full time or at school holidays
with the their mothers in the Units.
Female inmates approaching release
Specialised sex offender management
centres and an intensive residential unit.
Selected young inmates participate in ahighly structured adventure based
physical challenge and education programat Oberon Correctional Centre.

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APPENDIX 3
PROBATION AND PAROLE SERVICE PROGRAMMES AVAILABLE TO
PAROLEES
ProgramParole group

Drug and Alcohol Program

Relapse Prevention Program
Dependency and Lifestyle Program
Alcohol and Cannabis Program

Living Without Violence Program

Minor Drug Offenders Program

Personal Development Program

Anger and Aggression Management

Drink Driving Program

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What the program does
Offenders participate in specificallytailored programmes which address issues
such as community re-integration, goal
identification, personal and social
development
Offenders are presented with thephysiological and social implications of
substance abuse within a legal framework
Offenders are taught skills to prevent theirreturn to a substance-dependent lifestyle
Offenders are educated in the benefits ofa lifestyle free from substance dependence
Offenders are presented with thephysiological and social implications of
substance abuse within a legal framework
Offenders learn personal skills to assist
them to resolve problems and relationshipissues without recourse to violence
Offenders who have developed a patternof involvement in minor drug offending aretaught the ramifications of continuingthese practices
Offenders deal with a variety of personal,social and legal issues to assist theirpersonal development
Offenders learn how to deal with theiranger without recourse to anti-social
behaviour
Offenders are presented with the legal
issues and ramifications of drink driving
in a framework which addresses behaviour
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115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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Program
Traffic Offenders Program

Driver Education Program

Life Management Skills Program

Living Skills Program

Social and Legal Issues Program

Women’s Issues

Responsible Living Education Program

What the program does
Offenders are presented with the legal
issues of traffic offending in anenvironment which utilises the expertiseof relevant community groups (eg Police,
Vista [families of persons killed in vehicle
accidents])
Offenders are presented with the legal
issues and ramifications of offending by
way of driving matters in a framework
which addresses behaviour and attitude
Offenders deal with a variety of personaland social issues, with an emphasis on
skills acquisition to obtain employment.
The program operates in collaboration
with TAFE, and emphasises education
opportunities
Offenders deal with a variety of personaland social issues, with an emphasis on self
development to improve prospects ofgaining employment
Offenders learn the social and practical
implications of offending behaviour byfocussing on relevant legal issues
Offenders (female) address issues relevant
to women in the context of a personal
development framework
Offenders deal with a variety of personal,social and legal issues in a model which
addresses responsible societal behaviour

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