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Concerns increase over growing NSW prison population
The Law Society of NSW has voiced its concerns over the number of prisoners in the state continuing to climb.
Tony Zhang
Figures released on Wednesday by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) show the NSW prison population rose by 3.6 per cent or 470 people in 2019 to 13,635 and is approaching a record high..
The constant increases in the NSW prison population have caused growing worries over increasing expenditure.
“The ongoing increases in the NSW prison population, as confirmed in these latest figures, coincide with a record investment in our state’s prison,” Mr Harvey said.
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research spokeswoman Jackie Fitzgerald said on Tuesday this number would grow.
“Forecasts suggest that in the coming year the male prison population will increase again by more than 200,” Ms Fitzgerald said in a statement.
There is a constant concern for the state solicitors who will have to deal with increasing cases and legal costs, placing significant pressure on the legal system to deliver.
Furthermore, in an already overstretched system, the recent first wave of changes to Legal Aid rates under a $88 million funding boost might actually “significantly reduce” their fees and push practitioners to “the point of exhaustion”.
Under the $88 million funding package proposed, the base hourly rate of $150 for private solicitors will increase by $10 on 1 July and peak at $195 in 2023-24. Barristers’ fees will increase in the same period.
Though it was promoted as a rescue package from the Berejiklian government, warnings had been sounded earlier in the year from private lawyers that the existing rates and restrictions on the number of hours that could be claimed had resulted in them making less than the minimum wage in some cases, once actual working hours and overheads were taken into account.
President of The NSW Bar Association Tim Game SC had already called the current legal aid system broken, noting that it relies on individual practitioners to make financial sacrifices or compromise their professional standards in order for it to survive.
Mr Harvey has called on the state government to spend more money on early intervention and community-based health treatment including expanding the NSW Drug Court to Dubbo.
“It’s clear that instead of pouring money into the prisons, the NSW government needs to invest in early intervention strategies, better resource community-based health treatment such as drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres and introduce further reforms to better enable courts to impose alternatives to full-time imprisonment,” Mr Harvey said.
“We also need a coordinated national response from Commonwealth, state and territory governments to address the over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system.”
