New South Wales Department of Corrective Services

The New South Wales Department of Prisons, later the Department of Corrective Services (DCS), was a State government agency in New South Wales, Australia, that managed prisons, parole and community service. Established in 1874 as the Department of Prisons, DCS was absorbed into the State Department of Justice and Attorney General in 2009.[1]

This article is about the former department. For the current division of the Department of Communities and Justice, see Corrective Services New South Wales.

History

Before 1874
Main article: Convicts in Australia

Great Britain started the European settlement of the Colony of New South Wales in 1788, establishing a penal colony at what is now Sydney. The incentive to establishment the colony came from the conclusion (1783) of the American War of Independence, which forced Britain to find ways of dealing with criminals other than transporting them to North America. The initial settlement at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson involved housing convicts in tents, guarded by marines. Further convict shipments followed, and a surge of convicts arrived in Sydney after the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815. Convicts worked for pay and, where good behaviour was demonstrated, could be assigned to masters. Chain gangs operated from 1826 up until transportation ended in 1840.[2]

In the colony's early years, prisons and executions were managed first by the provost marshal, a military officer, and then, from 1824, by the sheriff.

Department of Prisons

The colony established its first Department of Prisons in 1874, with Sheriff Harold Maclean appointed as the first Comptroller-General.

Department of Corrective Services

The Department changed its name to 'Corrective Services' in 1970, and McGeechan's title changed to Commissioner. Eight years later, the Wran Government accepted the Royal Commission's recommendation that the post of commissioner be abolished in favour of a three-person Corrective Services Commission.

The Government appointed academic Tony Vinson as the chairman of the new Corrective Services Commission. Vinson implemented many of the Royal Commission recommendations, but by 1981 found himself in conflict with the officers' union, the Public Service Association. The Government backed the union in the dispute, and Vinson retired to academia. The tenure of his replacement, Vern Dalton, was memorable for a corruption scandal that saw the Minister for Corrections, Rex Jackson, sentenced to 10 years' gaol for corruption.

Labor, tarnished by this and other scandals, was swept from office in 1988: the Liberal–Nationals coalition that replaced them campaigned on a 'tough on crime' platform. Dalton was moved to a different department and the Corrective Services Commission was abolished in favour of a single director-general on 9 August 1988. The first director-general was former police officer Angus Graham.

In October 1991 the department was restructured, with its juvenile justice responsibilities being transferred to a separate agency and Graham's title changed to Commissioner.[3]

As part of a broader consolidation of government departments in 2009, the Department of Corrective Services was merged with the departments of the Attorney-General and Juvenile Justice in 2009. Corrective Services New South Wales became a division of what is now known as the Department of Justice, with Woodham retaining his role as Commissioner.

Past chief executives
Name Title Appointed by Term start Term end Term duration
Harold Maclean Comptroller-General Incumbent 1874 1889 15 years, 0 days
George Miller Comptroller-General Justice Minister Albert Gould 8 January 1890 1896 5 years, 358 days
William Neitenstein[4][5][6] Comptroller-General Justice Minister Albert Gould 22 June 1896 17 September 1909 13 years, 87 days
WM McFarlane[7] Comptroller-General Justice Minister John Garland 1 March 1910 29 April 1914 4 years, 59 days
Samuel McCauley[8][9] Comptroller-General Justice Minister David Hall 29 April 1914 19 December 1919 5 years, 234 days
Denis Gaynor D'Arcy Comptroller-General Justice Minister John FitzGerald 31 December 1919 2 February 1922 2 years, 33 days
William Urquhart[10] Comptroller-General Justice Minister William McKell 8 February 1922 17 May 1925 3 years, 98 days
HH McDougall[11] Comptroller-General Justice Minister Thomas Ley 17 May 1925 24 June 1925 38 days
George Steele[12] Comptroller-General Justice Minister William McKell 24 June 1925 31 December 1927 2 years, 190 days
William Francis Hinchy[13] Comptroller-General Justice Minister John Lee 3 January 1928 31 January 1940 12 years, 28 days
George F. Murphy Comptroller-General Attorney-General Henry Manning 31 January 1940 31 July 1947 7 years, 181 days
Leslie Cecil Joshua Nott[14] Comptroller-General Justice Minister Reg Downing 31 July 1947 30 June 1956 8 years, 335 days
Harold Richard Vagg Comptroller-General Justice Minister Reg Downing 20 July 1956 9 August 1960 4 years, 20 days
John Arthur Morony Comptroller-General Justice Minister Reg Downing 9 August 1960 14 July 1968 7 years, 340 days
Walter McGeechan Comptroller-General Attorney-General Ken McCaw 15 July 1968 18 January 1978 9 years, 187 days
Leslie Kenneth Downs Acting Commissioner Attorney-General Frank Walker 18 January 1978 19 June 1978 152 days
Leslie Kenneth Downs Associate Commissioner Attorney-General Frank Walker 19 June 1978 15 November 1978 149 days
Noel Stanley Day Commissioner Attorney-General Frank Walker 19 June 1978 19 March 1979 273 days
Dr Phillippe Anthony Vinson Chairman and Commissioner Corrections Minister Bill Haigh 19 March 1979 6 October 1981 2 years, 201 days
Noel Stanley Day Deputy Chairman and Commissioner Corrections Minister Bill Haigh 19 March 1979 19 March 1986 9 years, 143 days
Arnold Victor Bailey Commissioner Corrections Minister Bill Haigh 19 March 1979 19 March 1986 9 years, 143 days
Dr John Victor Temple Ellard Commissioner (part-time) Corrections Minister Bill Haigh 19 March 1979 19 March 1986 9 years, 143 days
Francis Daniel Hayes Commissioner (part-time) Corrections Minister Bill Haigh 19 March 1979 19 March 1986 9 years, 143 days
Vern Dalton Chairman and Commissioner Corrections Minister Rex Jackson 1981 22 August 1988
Stanley Miller Commissioner (part-time) Corrections Minister John Akister 19 March 1986 22 August 1988
Dr Glenice Kay Hancock Commissioner Corrections Minister John Akister 1 December 1986 22 August 1988
Dr Susan Carol Hayes Commissioner (part-time) Corrections Minister John Akister 1 December 1986 22 August 1988
David John Robert Grant Deputy Chairman and Commissioner Corrections Minister John Akister 27 January 1987 22 August 1988
Noel Stanley Day Acting Director-General Corrections Minister Michael Yabsley 22 August 1988 8 March 1989
Angus Graham Director-General Corrections Minister Michael Yabsley 8 March 1989 10 October 1991 2 years, 216 days
Angus Graham[3] Commissioner Justice Minister Terry Griffiths 10 October 1991
Neville Smethurst Commissioner 26 August 1996
Dr Leo Keliher Commissioner Attorney-General Jeff Shaw 26 August 1996 2002
Ron Woodham Commissioner Corrections Minister Richard Amery 2002 2009

See also

References
  1. "Department of Prisons (1874-1970) Department of Corrective Services (1970-2009)". New South Wales State Archives and Records. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. "History of NSW Corrections". Corrective Services NSW. 2008. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  3. "Corrections shake-up: plan to cut 100 administrative jobs". The Canberra Times. 10 October 1991.
  4. Garton, Stephen (1986). "Neitenstein, Frederick William (1850–1921)". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  5. "Changes in the civil service: the new comptroller of prisons". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). 22 June 1896.
  6. "Captain Neitenstein". The Inverell Times. 17 September 1909.
  7. "New comptroller-general of prisons". Sunday Times (Sydney). 6 March 1910.
  8. "New comptroller of prisons: Mr McCauley appointed". Tamworth Daily Observer. 29 April 1914.
  9. "Comptroller of prisons dead". The Riverine Grazier. 19 December 1919.
  10. "Comptroller-General of prisons". The Maitland Daily Mercury. 8 February 1922.
  11. "Mr MacDougall's further rise". Cootamundra Herald. 14 May 1925.
  12. "Prisons chief: Mr George Steele comptroller". Northern Star (Lismore). 24 June 1925.
  13. "New prison chief: Mr WF Hinchy succeeds Mr Steele". Evening News (Sydney). 3 January 1928.
  14. "Prisons head to retire". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 July 1947.
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