Research Monograph 5 — A critical review of periodic detention in New South Wales

A critical review of periodic detention in New South Wales

This review examines the development and growth of periodic detention as a sentencing option in New South Wales. Periodic detention was introduced by Act of Parliament in 1970 as an alternative to full-time imprisonment in a far more restricted form than presently obtains. Originally it was available only to non-recidivist adult male offenders and the maximum term that could be imposed was 12 months. It was later extended to apply to women. In 1982 the maximum term of periodic detention was increased to 18 months, and in 1990 it was extended again to three years. The sanction involves detaining offenders in custody for two consecutive days of the week, usually the weekend, and permits them to spend the rest of the week at liberty in the community. 

In Australia the sanction exists only in New South Wales, other States deciding either to abandon periodic detention, as in Queensland, or not introduce it at all on grounds that it is expensive, difficult to administer, and the fear that it would lead to net-widening. 

New Zealand introduced periodic detention in the early 1960s. Designed for young offenders, it was originally a residential programme but was later changed to a nonresidential one because of the high costs involved in maintaining the facilities. In New Zealand the maximum term of periodic detention is twelve months. It has been available for adults since 1967, and today there are many more offenders serving periodic detention in that country than there are offenders in prison.

Paperback, 69 pp, September 1992, ISBN 0 7310 0007 2