NSW State Parole Authority

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thank you

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I'm Jeff belew the chair of the New

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South Wales State Parole Authority

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the state Parole Authority is an

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independent organization whose members

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include retired judges magistrates or

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senior lawyers police officers

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Corrections Officers and representatives

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of the community

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every parole matter comes before a panel

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of five members and review hearings are

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held in court and are open to the public

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Authority members have the challenging

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task of deciding when it's safe to

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release an offender on parole and under

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what conditions

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our primary concern when making

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decisions is always the protection of

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the community

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parole is an important part of our legal

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system

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and it exists because it provides a

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safety net for offenders reintegrating

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into society

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an offender granted parole does not walk

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free from prison

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on parole offenders continue serving

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their sentence in the community but they

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remain under strict supervision of

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authorities and they have stringent

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conditions placed on them restricting

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where they can go who they can see and

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what they can do in the community

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if they breach parole The Authority has

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the power to send them back to prison

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the alternative is keeping an offender

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in prison to serve their full sentence

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then throwing open the prison doors and

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releasing them back into the community

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without any supervision or conditions or

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support plan

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evidence clearly shows that with

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supervision conditions and access to

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support services offenders on parole

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have a better chance of reintegrating

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safely into society and are far less

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likely to reoffend

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when people who have committed serious

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crimes are being considered for parole

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it can cause public concern

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I acknowledge victims of crime and their

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families can find the parole process

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traumatic with many hoping the offender

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is never released

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but the authority has no power to change

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or extend an offender's sentence

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the Court's hand down sentences except

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in rare cases most offenders are given a

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fixed sentence so they will eventually

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be released from prison

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the Authority's task then is to make

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careful and informed decisions about

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when to safely release an offender on

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parole

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to achieve this we carefully assess and

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weigh up the advice and recommendations

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of many experts we thoroughly examine

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all the evidence and reports available

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to us and we respectfully listen to the

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requests of victims or their families

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our role is to diligently serve the

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people of New South Wales by making

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parole decisions supporting the

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rehabilitation of offenders

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in doing so we always put the safety of

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the Community First

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[Music]