Today, the Minns Labor Government passed legislation through NSW Parliament to bring greater clarity and accountability to inmate misconduct proceedings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Amendment (Standard of Proof) Bill 2025 <\/em>changes the standard of proof for determining correctional centre offences to the civil standard of \u2018the balance of probabilities.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n The amendments passed today align NSW with most other Australian jurisdictions, where the civil standard of the \u2018balance of probabilities\u2019 is applied in disciplinary proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bill responds to concerns about the potential impact the current legislated burden of proof on correctional system and community safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enshrining the \u2018balance of probabilities\u2019 as the burden of proof will make the inmate discipline process more straightforward, maintain good order and security in correctional centres, and ensure inmates are held to account for their conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bill is a crucial part of the Government\u2019s efforts to strengthen staff safety at correctional facilities across the state, and its passage through Parliament complements a review of the way Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) classifies inmates that was announced earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This comprehensive review will assess the effectiveness of the classification, placement and case management processes of inmates across the state. It will ensure an inmate\u2019s behavioural record in custody carries appropriate weight when decisions are being made about an inmate\u2019s classification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These changes come after extensive consultation and engagement on a revised inmate misconduct system with the Public Service Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They will guarantee that the State Parole Authority is provided an accurate record of inmates\u2019 custodial conduct and can make considered, consistent decisions about release to parole to support public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this year, the Government also introduced an internal mechanism enabling inmates to request reviews of discipline decisions made within correctional centres. The addition of an internal review mechanism, made at the NSW Ombudsman\u2019s recommendation, provides an extra safeguard for inmate safety to lowering the burden of proof. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Serious criminal misconduct behind bars will continue to be referred to the NSW Police Force for consideration of prosecution on the criminal test of beyond reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Corrections Anoulack Chanthivong said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCommunity safety remains the Minns Labor Government\u2019s top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis legislation is an important, practical step forward in achieving our shared goal with the union of making sure our state\u2019s correctional centres are the safest environments possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy bringing New South Wales in line with other Australian jurisdictions, we are confident the changes to the inmate disciplinary process enhance safety in prisons and support community safety at large.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n General Secretary of the Public Service Association Stewart Little said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe welcome the passing of this legislation through NSW Parliament and will continue to work with the Government to see the amendment succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese changes will make sure our members can operate prisons that are safer for staff, inmates, visitors and the wider community alike.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today, the Minns Labor Government passed legislation through NSW Parliament to bring greater clarity and accountability to inmate misconduct proceedings. The Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Amendment (Standard of Proof) Bill 2025 changes the standard of proof for determining correctional centre offences to the civil standard of \u2018the balance of probabilities.\u2019 The amendments passed today align NSW with … Continue reading “Legislation to make prisons safer passes through NSW Parliament”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36155,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36154\/revisions\/36155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}