NSW prisoners could face harsh penalty for trivial offences such as ‘looking untidy’ after Labor ignores legal advice

Ombudsman releases secret advice against government plan to lower standard of proof for misconduct

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New South Wales prisoners could face some of the harshest penalties in the country for trivial infractions such as “looking untidy” or “eating food in a cell”, as the government flouts advice and attempts to lower the burden of proof for inmate misconduct.

On 14 October, the government introduced a bill proposing an amendment to the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act. If adopted, the legislation would mean offences committed by inmates while inside prison only need to be proved to the civil standard of the “balance of probabilities”, rather than the current criminal threshold of “beyond reasonable doubt”.