Serious Offenders Review Council (SORC)

The Serious Offenders Review Council (SORC) is an independent statutory authority, created by The Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 to advise on the security classification, placement and case management of inmates classed as serious offenders.

The Council also advises the State Parole Authority concerning the release of Serious Offenders and provides reports about these offenders to the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General and the Minister for Corrections.

Another of the Council's functions is to review Segregation directions, made under Part 2, Division 2 of The Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999.

SORC, which meets at least twice a month, is made up of judicial members, officers of Corrective Services and representatives of the community. Its committees include:

Assessment Committees involving visits to inmates every six months (where those inmates are within eight years of the expiry of their non-parole period)
High Security Inmate Management Committee
Escape Review Committee (this Committee provides recommendations to the Commissioner on reclassification of E2 inmates to a minimum security classification)
Pre-Release Leave Committee (this Committee provides recommendations to the Commissioner on progression of public interest inmates to external leave programs as a C3/Cat 1 classification)

In addition, the Council's secretariat deals daily with enquiries from correctional centres, the Minister's office, Corrective Services executive, Ombudsman, Corrections Intelligence Group, Official Visitors, Community Corrections Officers, the legal profession and also inmates and their families.

Serious offenders

Serious offenders currently comprise around 7% of the NSW inmate population. They include those who are serving a sentence for murder and/or who are:

serving a sentence for life
serving a sentence with a non-parole period or who will not be eligible for release until they have spent at least 12 years in custody
deemed to require being managed as a serious offender by the sentencing court, the Parole Authority or the Commissioner.