Court Cell Complexes Inspector’s Report Briefing note

Inspector of Custodial Services Report – key points

Executive Summary (pp. 4 – 5)

• [CCCs] are designed for short-term stays, and unlike correctional centres, do not have usable outdoor areas, exercise space, or in some cases, diversionary activities (such as televisions) or medical facilities. (p. 4.1)
• There are 11 CCC across New South Wales. This increases to 13 when including two correctional centres that operate akin to CCC – Amber Laurel Correctional Centre (CC) and Kariong Intake and Transit Centre (ITC) (p. 4.2)
• The report ‘Inspection of 24-Hour Court Cell Complexes, Amber Laurel Correctional Centre, and Kariong Intake and Transit Centre’… made 15 recommendations that aimed to address the length of time a person may be held at a CCC and to improve the environment so to increase the safety and wellbeing of people for the time that they are held… The ICS Annual Report 2024-25 shows that six recommendations have been implemented, five are in progress and the remainder did not proceed. (p. 4.3)
• During the course of this inspection, the ICS found:
  • The increase in PBR numbers and the consequent pressure on metropolitan CCC had led to an operating environment for the Sydney metropolitan area (Sydney metro) that was unsustainable. (p. 4.7)
  • Persons who are PBR are at their most vulnerable and are often high needs. This can include experiencing acute distress or mental health episodes, as well as possible drug and alcohol withdrawal. Persons who are PBR may live chaotic lives and may be reliant of family and kin for support, including support and assistance with children and family… [ICC recommends] clear processes and directions on: training staff and prescribing that body scanners are used in lieu of strip searching wherever practicable; monitoring hygiene; and for those persons held in custody in a CCC for beyond 24 hours, making the outdoor enclosures safe and accessible and providing access to a telephone call.’ (pp. 4.8 – 5.1)
  • There is a lack of necessary goods, including safety gowns for those persons at risk of self-harm. The necessity of these life-saving garments cannot be overstated and yet centres appear to be competing to retain safety gowns, so precious are these commodities. (p. 5.2)
  • Paucity of goods also extends to prison greens and hygiene products for women… (p. 5.2)
  • The environmental design of CCC render them entirely inappropriate for stays that exceed 48 hours. While it is expected that the closure of Amber Laurel CC and the operationalising of MRRC to receive persons who are PBR may mitigate the issue to some degree, the report notes that in the 2025-26 financial year, 106 people stayed in a cell complex for more than seven days, with one stay recorded for 16 days. (p. 5.3)
  • In some cases, women are being held in full view of male prisoners, are unable to be properly attended to due to the female staffing complement at the CCC, and can be without necessary goods and services. The Inspector recommends… ensuring that female persons in custody are afforded privacy, are safe and free from intimidation, a female staff member is available to conduct personal searches and that women’s hygiene products are always available and provided. (p. 5.4)

Recommendations (p. 7)

1. Establish a dedicated and consolidated section within the Custodial Operations Policy and Procedures for 24-hour court cell complexes, setting out clear operational requirements, processes and responsibilities to ensure consistent practice, effective governance, and the safety and wellbeing of persons in custody. This may include:
   1. training staff and prescribing that body scanners are used in lieu of strip searching wherever practicable
   2. monitoring and addressing hygiene issues within the complex, and
   3. where the person is held for longer than 24 hours, making available outdoor enclosures safe and accessible to provide time out of cell, and providing for a telephone call.
2. Consider developing a centralised team responsible for auditing, procurement and supply to all 24-hour court cell complexes of basic amenities, including clothing for persons who are police bail refused, bedding and hygiene products…
3. Prioritise an audit of the circumstances of persons in custody over the last two years whose stay at 24-hour court cell complex exceeded seven days to understand the reasons for delay in transfers to correctional centres and to put in place a plan to address and eliminate longer stays… Following this, the audit should be expanded to include all stays longer than 48 hours…
4. Reassess the operation of 24-hour court cell complexes through the lens of the Corrective Services NSW Women’s Strategy… Processes should include ensuring that female persons in custody are accorded privacy when using the bathroom, are safe and free from intimidation, a female staff member is available to conduct searches and that women’s hygiene products are always available and provided.

2 Background (pp. 12 – 26)

• 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026 (p. 12):
  • 29 693 new receptions were received into a 24 hour CCC, an increase of 2218 from the prior financial year.
  • 51% of new receptions were received through Amber Laurel CC and Surry Hills CCC.
  • 106 people stayed beyond the statutory time frame (7 days), an increase of 53% from the previous year.
• The Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (CAS Act) prescribes that people are not to be held in these cells for longer than seven days. (p. 13.1)
• Persons who are police bail refused (PBR) are transferred from the police station to a 24-hour CCC pending a bail hearing. First appearance bail applications are heard by the Bail Division of the Local Court of NSW. People in custody appear in court via audio-visual link (AVL) from the CCC or in person at a sitting court. (p. 14.2)
• A Local Court Judge will consider the person’s application for bail and determine whether bail should be granted or refused. If bail is granted, the person will be released subject to any conditions imposed by the court. If bail is refused, the person will be remanded to custody and transferred to a correctional centre as soon as practicable. In 2025, there were 167,254 first appearance matters before the court. Bail was dispensed with in 104,859 (63%) of matters. Bail was granted in 41,527 (25%) of matters and bail was refused in (13%) of matters. (p. 14.4)
• When a person is refused bail by a court, that person is transferred from the CCC to a correctional centre to await their next court appearance or sentencing (when a guilty plea has been entered). A person in custody may return to the 24-hour CCC when they are attending court for a hearing, trial or sentencing, especially if the correctional centre in which they are held is some distance from the court. (p. 14.5)
• The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that: ‘People in prison are some of the most vulnerable people in society and often come from disadvantaged backgrounds. People who spend time in prison experience higher rates of homelessness, unemployment, mental health disorders, chronic physical health conditions, communicable disease, tobacco smoking, high risk alcohol consumption, and illicit drug use than the general population’. (p. 16.7)
• CSNSW found that: ‘…Remand inmates present significant management challenges for Corrective Services. Remand inmates often present complex issues, including intoxication, chronic drug use and mental illness, as well as trauma associated with incarceration and the uncertainty of their future… (p. 16.8)
• The challenges of managing individuals with significant social and health needs are substantial. These challenges are further intensified by the large number of people processed through these facilities. The cumulative effect places considerable pressure on staffing, resources, and operational capacity. (p. 16.9)
• These separation requirements can result in a CCC reaching their operational capacity before the maximum physical capacity is reached. In such circumstances, a facility may be temporarily unable to accept additional receptions from police despite having available beds. To ensure 24-hour CCC can continue to receive new receptions, it is essential that people are transferred to correctional centre as soon as practicable. (p. 17.5)
• Prison population increase (p. 18):
  • 14 070 adults were in prison in March 2026.
  • The prison population rose by 1064 inmates between November 2025 and March 2026.
  • There was an 8% increase over a total four month period.
  • The remand population rose by 14% between November 2025 and March 2026 to an all time high of 6650 inmates.
  • People in prison for domestic violence offences rose by 13% (up 459) to a record of 3944 or 28%.
• In the 2025-26 financial year, there were 1,955 self-harm incidents within 24-hour CCC, comprising 6.6% of all people admitted to a CCC during that period, should each person self-harm once. It is noted that the definition of ’self-harm’ includes both threatened self-harm and actual self-harm. Self-harm includes all conduct which causes harm to a person, including where the person may not intend to commit suicide. (p. 26.2)

3 Findings (pp. 26 – 44)

• Inspections of 24-hour CCC across the state showed low stock levels or no stock of clothing (prison greens), shoes (thongs), and, critically, safety gowns in some centres or complexes. This was the same with safety blankets and was particularly acute in Sydney metro centres. For example, at the June 2026 inspection, Amber Laurel CC had no safety gowns and very little clothing while Surry Hills CCC had two gowns and low stock of clothing. Dubbo CCC only had one safety blanket in stock. (p. 36.2)
• The COPP states that people held in 24- hour CCC may, upon request, be provided with a range of CSNSW-issued clothing, footwear, and sanitary items, including personal hygiene products for female inmates. (p. 36.4)
• With few exceptions, people did not have pillows to sleep on. We frequently observed that people had rolled or folded a blanket to place under their head while they slept. In colder locations, this may mean sleeping without adequate warmth. In other cases, an additional blanket was provided specifically for this purpose. At no location were staff able to provide a rationale for not supplying pillows. Supplying pillows may actually be a cost-saving measure as the laundry expenses associated with washing pillowcases are certainly lower than washing additional blankets. (p. 37.5)
• The placement of people at risk of suicide and self-harm and those identified as a ‘person of interest’ (meaning that the person may be at risk of harm from others, or to others) were considered the most difficult people to find a suitable CC placement for. With insufficient available cameras cells cited by correctional centres as the reason for the inability to receive people into custody. This means that those who are at risk and in need of additional supports and services remain in a 24-hour CCC until a suitable placement can be found or a bed becomes available. Conversely, the COPP identifies that the transfer of inmates who are at-risk to a correctional centre must be prioritised where that person is held in a 24-hour CCC. (p. 39.5)
• As of March 2026, 6.85% (962) of people in custody were women. 56.8% (547) of the women were on remand, and 43.1% were sentenced. 44.5% (429) of the women were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women. (p. 42.1)
• Women received into custody are likely to have been impacted by violence (often domestic violence), trauma, poverty and systemic disadvantage. Additionally, many women have mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and disrupted family and community connections. Aboriginal women make up almost half of the women’s prison population. Ninety-eight percent of Aboriginal women have experienced victimisation. Eighty-three percent of Aboriginal women in custody have been victims of domestic violence, and 66% of Aboriginal women in custody were victimised as a child. In this context, women entering custody require a safe environment. (pp. 42.4 – 43.1)
• It is widely accepted under international law that men and women should be separated in custody. This is also reflected in the CAS Regulation, which identifies that ‘female inmates must be kept separate from male inmates except in the circumstances and under the supervision that the Commissioner determines’. While men and women are not held in the same cells in 24-hour CCC, they are held in the same complex and within close proximity to each other. Given that many women received into custody have been victims of interpersonal and sexual violence and have experienced trauma it is not ideal that they are held near each other. We found that the infrastructure in most of the 24-hour CCC do not enable men and women to be held in separate areas. As such it is imperative that women are moved out of 24-hour CCC as a matter of priority. It is noted that the MRRC proposal discussed above will provide for distinct separated areas for men and women. (p. 43.2)
• Searches of women should only be undertaken if necessary and alternatives to intrusive searches should be utilised. (p. 43.3)
• To ensure that women received in custody are afforded dignity, they should be provided with sanitary products, without having to request these from a male staff member. For example, there are very limited supplies of sanitary products at Kariong ITC, and these were difficult to access. The inspection team were advised that women at Kariong ITC have been left without access to sanitary items for several days, and even escorted to trucks departing Kariong ITC, while menstruating without access to sanitary items. It is noted that other 24-hour CCC had adequate supplies that were readily accessible. CSNSW have acknowledged that women in custody should have access to female hygiene products and advised that work is under way to enhance the provision of hygiene products. (p. 43.5)
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