Recommendation 147

This recommendation is assigned to CSNSW.

Recommendation

That police instructions should be amended to make it mandatory for police to immediately notify the relatives of a detainee who is regarded as being 'at risk', or who has been transferred to hospital.

Context

At the commencement of Chapter 24.1 the Royal Commission report stated that issues dealing with Police and prison custody deaths would be dealt with separately in different chapters as the issues were quite distinct. Since the time of the RCIADIC report, Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) has taken operational responsibility for some police/court cells. Recommendation 147 is directed at implementing a protocol t ensure police must immediately notify a person in custody’s family when they are at risk or transferred to hospital. This recommendation is primarily directed at NSW Police, however CSNSW has responded as far as it relates to CSNSW.

Details of implementation 

Under the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999, the principal legislation under which CSNSW operates, the term correctional centre means—

(a)  any premises declared to be a correctional centre by a proclamation in force under section 225, including any juvenile correctional centre declared under section 225A, and

(b)  any police station or court cell complex in which an offender is held in custody in accordance with this or any other Act.

So for a limited period and in limited locations, CSNSW has responsibility for offenders in police cells who would be considered “detainees” in this recommendation.

The 24hr police cell locations are as follows:

• Surry Hills police cells

• Amber Laurel Correctional Centre (CC)

• Kariong CC

• Surry Hills 

• Albury

• Wagga Wagga 

• Queanbeyan 
  

• Batemans Bay

• Dubbo 

• Moree

• Lismore

• Port Macquarie 

• Newcastle 

• Wollongong 

All bar Kariong CC receive Persons Bail Refused (PBR) from NSW Police. 

There are personal information and health information privacy protections and principles that prevent this occurring (Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002).

NSW has a notification system whereby an ALS practitioner or equivalent is contacted when an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person is detained in police custody. In NSW, this is a legislated duty (Clause 37 of Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Regulation 2016)

The Custody Notification Service (CNS) is a 24-hour, 7-day a week telephone legal advice service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that have been taken into custody in NSW and the ACT.

Risk Based Assessment

CSNSW has developed a risk- based spectrum and uses this approach to dealing with inmates at risk. COPP 3.7 Management of inmates at risk of self-harm or suicide - Point 4.3 Inmate Support Plan - Cell placement options 

Since July 2016, there have been 187 deaths in CSNSW custody, of which at least 48 are attributed to suicide (as of August 2022)

During the same period over 7,900 inmates made a threat of self-harm, and over 17,900 were assessed as being at-risk of self-harm

Notifying family about medical emergencies.

COPP Section 6.2 Hospitalisation of inmates

• Point 1.3 Procedure for notification of emergency contact person

COPP Section 13.2 Medical Emergencies

• Point 2.2 Emergency contact person - an inmate’s Emergency Contact Person (ECP) must be informed if an inmate is taken to hospital with life threatening injuries and it is obvious he or she will be admitted (e.g. massive head trauma, stab wounds). For non-life-threatening injuries, the inmate’s ECP must be notified on the day admission is confirmed.

• On the new inmate lodgement and special instruction sheet, which includes the inmate identification and observation (IIO) form, the offenders are asked who they want to nominate as their emergency contact and who they want to nominate as their next of kin (NOK). The offenders are able to nominate the same person or two different people for this section.  

• When an offender enters a remand correctional centre, they complete the Inmate Screening Questionnaire (ISQ) with a service and programs officer (SAPO). On the ISQ, question 17 asks ‘do you wish to change the ECP/NOK details that have been noted in the IIO?’. If an inmate indicates that they would like to change these details, the SAPO completes an Inmate Next of Kin Details form and forwards to Sentence Administration. 

COPP Section 1.1 Reception procedures

•  Point 1.2 Acceptance of inmates into CSNSW custody from Police any inmate who is suffering from serious observable injury or illness will not be accepted in CSNSW unless proper medical attention has been obtained by NSWPF and/or inmate has been evaluated by a medical practitioner or personnel qualified to make a necessary medical evaluation to confirm that the inmate is fit to be detained in custody at a court/police cell location. Any inmates with mental health issues NSWPF are required to obtain a mental health clearance before accepting an inmate into CSNSW Custody.

Evidence

• Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 Sec 225

• Privacy and Personal Information Act 1998

• Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002

• Clause 37 of Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Regulation 2016

• COPP 3.7 Management of inmates at risk of self-harm or suicide (PDF, 2.3 MB)

• COPP Section 6.2 Hospitalisation of inmates (PDF, 411.6 KB)

• COPP Section 13.2 Medical Emergencies (PDF, 5.5 MB)
  

• COPP Section 1.1 Reception procedures (PDF, 3.0 MB)