Administration of Sentences - NSW Ombudsman - NSW Government

However, persons do not have lawful authority to deliver or attempt to deliver a mobile phone to an inmate in
any circumstances. Nor do persons have lawful authority to secrete or leave a mobile phone anywhere inside or
outside a place of detention for the purpose of its being found or received by an inmate. 74
Some DCS policies are developed by individual centres and only apply locally. Each centre has, for example, different
rules about whether people visiting inmates can take items such as coins for vending machines, cigarettes, food and
nappies for babies into the visiting areas, and whether visitors can wear jewellery during visits.
Other DCS policies apply to specified people. For example, police officers and legal representatives may take
computer laptops and audio and video recording equipment into a visit with an inmate. 75 People making a
personal visit may not.
The Commissioner of Corrective Services has the power to ban or restrict any person from visiting any or all NSW
correctional facilities for a specified period of time if the Commissioner considers that such a person may prejudice
the good order and security of a facility. 76 The department has developed a policy which provides that people who are
detected introducing contraband into a place of detention may be banned from visiting some or all NSW correctional
facilities for up to five years. 77 This means that if a person within the boundary of a place of detention has in his
or her possession unauthorised items the person may not only be subject to criminal sanctions, but may also be
prohibited from entering correctional facilities for several months or years. This is one of the very few areas where the
department’s jurisdiction extends to members of the public.
3.6. Clarity of NSW provisions
In order to be fair and effective the laws and policies prohibiting certain items from being introduced into correctional
facilities should be clear and easy to understand. This is particularly the case given the serious penalties that can be
imposed on people who introduce prohibited items into a correctional facility.
Throughout the course of our review, we have been made aware of a number of possible issues of concern regarding
the clarity of the legislative provisions and departmental policies relating to the introduction of unauthorised items into
a place of detention. These issues are discussed below.
3.6.1. Prescription medication
Section 27B(2) of the Summary Offences Act says that:
A person must not, without lawful authority, bring or attempt by any means whatever to introduce into any place
of detention any poison listed in Appendix D of Schedule Four, or in Schedule Eight, to the Poisons List in force
under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966.
Schedule Four, Appendix D drugs are prescribed restricted substances including drugs such as anabolic and
androgenic steroids, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines. Schedule Eight drugs are substances that are addiction
producing or potentially addiction producing, such as codeine, methadone, morphine, pethidine and Ritalin. 78
From our observations, people entering places of detention commonly carry in their bags, or in their vehicles,
medication of some description. It is often easy for correctional officers to verify the type of drug a person is carrying
and determine whether the medication is permitted to be brought onto centre grounds. However, sometimes
correctional officers have difficulty verifying the type of medication a person is carrying, and whether the person is
permitted to carry it. For example, the following notes were made by staff from our office, observing DCS search
operations:
The second woman being searched was found to be carrying drugs … The woman said that she had a
prescription but she didn’t have it on her. … A C/O [correctional officer] went inside the centre and I was told
he contacted a nurse to find out about the medication. I was told the nurse said that this particular drug was
dangerous to have ‘inside’. The OIC [officer in charge] of the operation said that it was OK for the woman to
proceed with her visit but that next time she should bring her prescription or leave the drugs at home. 79
*
A middle aged couple had been hanging around their vehicle for quite a while. The man could speak very little
English and the woman was interpreting for him. From what I could tell, the man had a container of pills in his
car that he had not declared during the search. There were a number of different types of pills in the container.
The man claimed they were prescription medication but there was no label on the container, and he had no
prescriptions on him. A police officer identified some of the pills as [type of drug], but couldn’t identify any of the
others.
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Amendment Act 2002 and Summary Offences Amendment (Places of Detention) Act 2002 25