Recommendation 101

This recommendation is assigned to CSNSW.

Recommendation

That authorities concerned with the administration of non-custodial sentencing orders take responsibility for advising sentencing authorities as to the scope and effectiveness of such programs. 

Context

The Royal Commission stated that ‘if the full range of sentencing options are to be considered, so that imprisonment truly is an option of last resort, it is essential that the sentencing authorities are made fully familiar with the legislation and also administrative arrangements which apply to persons placed on community based orders…’Recommendation 101 is directed at ensuring sentencing authorities are aware of that full range of sentencing options, including non-custodial options and their effectiveness. 

Detail of implementation

CSNSW Community Corrections prepares Sentencing Assessment Reports (SARs) for courts. In addition to providing background information on the offender, SARs include the willingness and suitability of the offender to engage in community service work and Community Corrections supervision. 

SARs are required when the court is considering imposing home detention or community service work as conditions of a community-based sentence. In other cases, SARs may be requested by the court as needed. They assist courts to determine the appropriate sentence for an offender and to clearly communicate the recommendations of and expectations for Community Corrections in managing that offender in the community.

Community Corrections also provides state-wide services to courts – known as “court duty” – where a Community Corrections Officer (CCO) is on-site to provide advice to the court prior to sentencing. The court duty officer will prepare a short court duty report, which is a condensed version of a sentencing assessment report, to advise the court about an offender’s suitability for community-based sentencing options. 

The operation of the court duty service varies by location. Some Community Corrections offices have a designated CCO assigned to court duty. Others operate on a roster system. In regional areas, where courts do not sit on a daily basis, there may be local arrangements with the court where the court will contact the local Community Corrections office to request specific information about an offender. 

In September 2018, significant legislative reforms to community-based sentences in NSW were introduced to increase the availability of non-custodial options. There was extensive communication with the Judiciary about the new sentence options and the effectiveness of community-based supervision prior to and following the commencement of these reforms, including: 

• articles published in the Judicial Officers Bulletin;
• presentations at the Magistrates Conference, District Court seminar and Local Court metropolitan and regional conferences; and 
• an update to the Judicial Commission of NSW’s Bench Book. 

Community Corrections also delivered over 30 state-wide joint training sessions with Legal Aid NSW to legal professionals about the sentencing reforms. Community Corrections continues to work with BOCSAR to evaluate community supervision.

BOCSAR generally evaluates programs or policies on request.  However, CSNSW retain discretion about which of these requests are accepted.  CSNSW completed a piece of research looking at the benefit of post release supervision versus no supervision - Galouzis, J. J., Meyer, D., & Day, A. (2020). Associations Between Parole Outcomes and Characteristics of People Under Supervision, Supervising Officer, and Supervising Office. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(10), 1228-1243. CSNSW generally consider that this supervision benefit (if found) can also translate to non-custodial supervised orders.

A number of BOCSAR reports linked in the evidence support the use of community based orders. 

Evidence

• BOCSAR report - Suspended sentences and imprisonment
• BOCSAR report – The impact of intensive correction orders and re-offending
• BOCSAR report - The effect of arrest and imprisonment on crime
• BOCSAR report - Crime, deterrence and punishment revisited
• BOCSAR report - Does a prison sentence affect future domestic violence reoffending
• Associations Between Parole Outcomes and Characteristics of People Under Supervision, Supervising Officer, and Supervising Office. Criminal Justice and Behavior https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820946418 (Original work published 2020).