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Recommendation 118
This recommendation is assigned to CSNSW.
Recommendation
That where not presently available, home detention be provided both as a sentencing option available to courts as well as a means of early release of prisoners.
Context
At the time of the Royal Commission report, home detention was available in Queensland and South Australia, as early release from prison and in the Northern Territory as a sentencing option. Recommendation 118 is directed at expanding the availability of home detention across the jurisdictions as both a sentencing option and early release from custody.
Status: Implemented
Whilst not directed at CSNSW, CSNSW has implemented a response.
Home detention was introduced as a sentencing option in the Home Detention Act 1996 and later replaced by Intensive Corrections Orders(ICOs) in 2018. The Reintegration Home Detention scheme allows the State Parole Authority to transition eligible offenders to electronically monitored home detention in the last six months of their non-parole period, with conditions including remaining at home, electronic monitoring, and participation in rehabilitation programs. The scheme is not available to serious offenders.
Detail of implementation
Court based
Home detention introduced as a sentencing option in the Home Detention Act 1996 (repealed 1/2/1999 and replaced with section 6 of the Crimes Sentencing Procedure Act 1999).
Home detention was repealed from the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (CSP Act) in September 2018 and replaced with Intensive Corrections Orders (s 7 CSP Act).
Home detention is a condition available under an Intensive Corrections Order s 73A(2)(a) of the CSP Act.
Early release
The Reintegration Home Detention scheme gives the State Parole Authority (SPA) the option to transition a small number of eligible and suitable offenders to electronically monitored home detention, in the last six months of their non-parole period. This provides a structured step-down between prison and parole for these offenders.
The conditions of home detention require an offender to remain at home, be electronically monitored, submit to alcohol and drugs testing, and participate in rehabilitation programs, employment or community service if directed.
CSNSW refer suitable offenders to the SPA for consideration in the scheme and the SPA apply the community safety test when assessing an offender's suitability. Applications cannot be made by offenders or their representatives.
The scheme is not available to serious offenders including those serving life sentences, high risk sex or violent offenders, terrorism offenders, child sexual offenders or domestic violence offenders.
Evidence
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