Record numbers of people are entering the NSW prison system due to changes to bail laws that make it harder for alleged domestic violence offenders – and children – to be released, placing a significant strain on the state’s corrective services.
Premier Chris Minns announced on Sunday that one of the state’s largest jails, Parklea, would return to public hands after the contract with its private operator, MTC Australia, previously Broadspectrum, expired next year.
Parklea jail will return to public hands amid increasing pressure on the state’s prison system.Credit: Nick Moir
Revealed in 2023, the move to end controversial private ownership of the prison comes after the government brought Junee Prison back into public hands.
The change, which the government says will save the state money, comes at a moment of significant pressure on the prison system.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb raised the alarm last week over the number of inmates refused bail and languishing in police cells. What she called “gridlock” in the jail system was leading to an “unprecedented strain” on frontline officers having to manage inmates in police cells, she said.
Minns said his government’s changes to bail laws had resulted in an increased prison population of about 1000 extra inmates. The surge has largely been driven by two separate reforms: one that made it harder for domestic violence offenders to be given bail, and another aimed at young people who commit repeat break-and-enter or car theft offences.
NSW Premier Chris Minns at budget estimates last week.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Minns has been criticised over the bail changes, especially those aimed at young offenders. Greens MP Sue Higginson labelled the government’s plans to extend the youth bail changes – they were initially announced on a trial basis for one year – “completely incorrect and frightening”.
But the premier on Sunday said he was “unapologetic” about the increase in the prison population, largely among people held on remand, meaning they have been charged with but not convicted of an offence.
“We’ve got a responsibility to keep the community safe,” he said.
The spike in the remand population is having an impact on the prison system. On Sunday, Corrective Services NSW acting commissioner Leon Taylor said he met Webb last week to discuss the problem and said the system was “under a lot of pressure” due to the “record volume” of new inmates.
The decision to bring Parklea prison back into public hands would alleviate some of those pressures in the long term, he said. The government plans to extend the contract with MTC Australia until October next year to allow for the transition of Parklea’s 1500 beds back into public ownership.
“When you’re in a position where the government has to provide remand services to those that have been refused bail in the criminal justice system, it’s a lot harder if you have to go through a middle person who’s responsible for the private provision of corrections,” Minns said.
Parklea has been plagued by controversy since it was privatised by the former Labor government in 2009, including the death of an inmate in February last year.
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