Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons

Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons
Date March 31, 1976 – March 31, 1978 (1976-03-31 – 1978-03-31)
Duration 2 years
Location Sydney, Australia
Also known as Nagle Royal Commission
Commissioner John Flood Nagle
Counsel Assisting David Hunt
Consultants Sydney Derwent
Alexander Mitchell
Sir Leon Radzinowicz

The Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons, also known as the Nagle Royal Commission, was established in 1976 to inquire into the management of prisons in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Commission was headed by Supreme Court Justice John Flood Nagle. Nagle's report, handed down in 1978, provided 252 recommendations, including the dismissal of Corrective Services Commissioner Walter McGeechan – though the Government dismissed McGeechan shortly before receiving Nagle's final report.[1]

Background to the inquiry

As Nagle noted in his report, the Royal Commission was by no means the first inquiry into the state of New South Wales prisons. An 1861 select committee, an 1878 Royal Commission, a 1946 committee and a 1973 working party had each produced recommendations that had yet to be fully implemented.[2][3]

Grafton

Grafton Gaol was designated as a centre for 'intractable' male inmates in 1942.[4] Officers serving at Grafton were entitled to a curiously-named "climatic allowance", intended to attract "capable, tactful and robust" men and compensate them for the "arduous nature" of their work. As Nagle was to sensationally uncover, this ardour derived from the frequent and illegal beatings meted out to inmates. This began when the prisoner arrived with a "reception biff" and continued throughout the man's sentence whenever he was thought to breach "written or unwritten rules". One such rule was that inmates were forbidden to make eye contact with staff.[5]

The abuses at Grafton continued undetected for some 30 years, but by the 1970s the prison had acquired a reputation for brutality and questions began to be asked in Parliament and the media.

Bathurst

But it was events at the much larger Bathurst Gaol that were to force the brutal world of the State's penal system into the public consciousness. In February 1974, an inmate threw a petrol bomb into the prison chapel, sparking a riot. Officers responded with gunfire and, having regained control of the prison, proceeded to inflict retaliatory beatings on the inmates. More than 50 inmates were injured during the riot and its aftermath, and one was paralysed by a bullet lodged in his spine.[6][7]

In his report, Nagle noted that the Superintendent at Bathurst had also led reprisal beatings against protesting prisoners in 1970. The Department had been aware of the assaults at the time, but had determined that there was insufficient evidence to discipline any individual officer. Like every one of his counterparts, the Superintendent had also failed to act on a Departmental requirement that all prisons have a plan in place for dealing with riots.[8]

The inquiry

Following the Bathurst riot, the Liberal Premier, Sir Robert Askin, promised an inquiry – but this was deferred pending the outcome of criminal charges against the rioters.[9]

The public outcry over conditions at Bathurst – and indeed prisons generally – could not be ignored. On 31 March 1976, Askin's successor, Eric Willis established the promised royal commission, with Supreme Court justice John Flood Nagle presiding. Former Macquarie University vice-chancellor Alexander Mitchell and University of New South Wales academic Sydney Derwent were appointed as members of the Commission, with Cambridge criminologist Sir Leon Radzinowicz serving as a consultant.[10]

The commissioners were directed to "inquire into and report upon the general working of the Department of Corrective Services of New South Wales, its policies, facilities and practices in the light of contemporary penal practice and knowledge of crime and its causes." They were asked to specifically consider the relationship between staff and prisoners, as well as the selection and training of prison officers, and to provide recommendations for legislative change. The commissioners initiated preliminary hearings two weeks later.[11]

The Liberals lost power in May 1976, and the new Labor government of Neville Wran sought to put its ideological stamp on the Commission. Although Wran did not amend the terms of reference, Mitchell and Derwent were demoted to consultant roles, and Radzinowicz – considered too conservative – was sacked. Nagle continued on as sole commissioner. The Opposition accused Wran of trying to nobble the inquiry; prisoners' advocates saw it as cost-cutting.[10][9]

Hearings

Both the Department and the prison officers' union, the Public Service Association, were represented by counsel at the Commission's hearings. Five civil-society groups were also given leave to appear: the Council for Civil Liberties, the Penal Reform Council, the Aboriginal Legal Service, Women Behind Bars and the Prisoners Action Group.

The Department of Corrective Services was directed invite inmates to make submissions to the Commission, and a great many took up the offer. Prisoners were represented by two lawyers, Merv Rutherford and I.L. Dodd.

For the first 10 months, the Commission's hearings focused almost exclusively on Bathurst Gaol. Prisoners, prison officers, departmental officials and the Public Service Association of NSW, the union representing guards. On 1 February 1977, Nagle brought the Bathurst hearings to a close, and indicated that future hearings would consider other issues, including the treatment of female inmates, Grafton Gaol, Aboriginal inmates and prison conditions in general.

In the end, it was not possible for Nagle to hear from every inmate who wished to testify. The Commissioner instead recommended that the Government appoint – temporarily – an individual to hear and make rulings on these unheard complaints. Wran declined to do so, and so Nagle instead referred the outstanding complaints to the State Ombudsman.

Despite many serious allegations being levelled at individual correctional officers, only one, Keith Frederick Newling of Grafton Gaol, took up the opportunity to testify in his own defence.

Findings

Nagle presented his report to the Governor, Sir Roden Cutler, on 31 March 1978. Its 630 pages excoriated "an inefficient Department administering antiquated and disgraceful gaols; untrained and sometimes ignorant prison officers, resentful, intransigent and incapable of performing their tasks."[12]

The report catalogued conditions across the State's prison system, with a particular focus on the events at Bathurst and Grafton. The document also contained an extensive review of the literature on criminology and prison administration. In setting out an agenda for reform, Nagle articulated five principles:

  1. "the loss of liberty is the extent of the punishment"
  2. "the inmate should lose only his liberty and such rights as expressly or by necessary implication result from the loss of that liberty"
  3. imprisonment should only be used as a last resort
  4. those who are gaoled should remain there for as short a time as possible
  5. inmates should be housed in the "lowest appropriate" security classification.[13]

General recommendations

In all, Nagle made more than 250 general recommendations, of which he considered seven most important:

  • dismissal of Commissioner Walter McGeechan, who had "knowingly presided over a system that condoned the illegal use of force on prisoners"
  • a board of Commissioners should be appointed to replace McGeechan
  • the selection and training of all ranks of Corrective Services should be improved, including by appointing some senior officers from outside the agency
  • giving Superintendents primary responsibility for the order and good governance of their prisons
  • more frequent consultation with the Public Service Association and other trade unions
  • the public should be better informed about the prison system
  • a 20-year building plan should be developed in order to progressively replace older facilities.[14]

The other recommendations were divided into the following categories:

  • administration
  • aims and objectives of the Department
  • superintendents
  • prison officers
  • the Inspectorate Division
  • the Corrective Services Advisory Council
  • chaplains
  • classification
  • security
  • prison industries
  • education
  • remissions
  • amenities and conditions
  • medical services
  • discipline
  • prisoners' rights
  • female prisoners
  • minority groups
  • 'Governor's pleasure' prisoners
  • probation and parole
  • pre-release and after care
  • record-keeping
  • public relations
  • research
  • alternatives to imprisonment
  • future planning.

The final recommendation was that Newling be charged under the Public Service Act for breach of discipline.[15]

Specific recommendations included:

  • clear rules around the appropriate use of force
  • increased salaries for officers
  • removing gender barriers to employment in male and female prisons
  • an independent prisons inspectorate
  • inmates should be classified on the basis of security considerations only
  • electronic equipment should be used to improve security
  • contact visits should be allowed in all prisons
  • monitoring of visits should cease
  • censorship of inmates' mail should cease
  • food, libraries, clothing, sporting facilities and outdoor shelter should be improved
  • female inmates should be housed in cells, not dormitories
  • judges should be able to set non-parole periods for life sentences
  • pre-release and after-care programs should be improved
  • imprisonment of fine defaulters should cease
  • courts should be empowered to impose community service obligations in lieu of imprisonment
  • a new high-rise remand centre should be built close to the City courts.[16]

Legacy

Many of Nagle's recommendations were implemented, including the dismissal of Commissioner McGeechan, and closure of the Katingal supermax unit at Long Bay Correctional Complex. McGeechan's replacement, Tony Vinson, oversaw a wide-ranging program of reform, before industrial action forced him to resign after just three years in the job.[6] Vinson later observed that prison administrators the world over "invariably know of and allude to the Nagle Report as an important benchmark."[17]

References

  1. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer.
  2. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 40.
  3. ↑ "Chronology - A History of Australian Prison Reform". Four Corners. Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 November 2005. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "Grafton Gaol". State Records Authority of New South Wales.
  5. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 16-7.
  6. 1 2 Grabosky, P. N. (May 1989). "Wayward governance : illegality and its control in the public sector - Chapter 2: The abuse of prisoners in New South Wales 1943-76". Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. ISBN 0-642-14605-5. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  7. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 18-20.
  8. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 18.
  9. 1 2 Prisoners Action Group (1978). "Bathurst gaol and the royal commission into prisons – a summary" (PDF). Alternative Criminology Journal.
  10. 1 2 New South Wales Department of Corrective Services (1976). Report of the Department of Corrective Services for the year ended 30 June 1976 (PDF). New South Wales Government Printer.
  11. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 28.
  12. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 460.
  13. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 50.
  14. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 24-5.
  15. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 462-79.
  16. ↑ Nagle, J. F. (31 March 1976). Report of the Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons. Sydney: New South Wales Government Printer. p. 462-79.
  17. ↑ "The Honourable John Flood Nagle, QC – Citation for the conferral of a Doctor of Letters" (PDF). Charles Sturt University.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.