Wednesday 17 September 1997

Speakers
Tim Anderson Justice Action, NSW Council for Civil Liberties
Bob Debus (or the Minister's delegate) Minister for Corrective Services
Peter de Graff President, Corrective Services Teachers Federation

The Labor Party prior to the 1995 State election in its Corrections Policy promised to substantially increase and improve the delivery of Education and Training to inmates in NSW Correctional Centres. This included a commitment to employ permanent teachers for the first time in corrections, in areas such as Adult Basic Education. The recent Senate Inquiry into Education and Training in Correctional Facilities made numerous recommendations including, that there be a minimum acceptable level of provision of educational delivery to inmates, that education be a right rather than a privilege, that education and training of offenders be a key responsibility of corrections services, that National Standards for Education and Training for People in Custody be developed, and that national conferences of correctional educators be held regularly. Will education in prisons, for inmates who have some of the lowest literacy and numeracy rates in our community, continue to progress, or instead become the subject of politics?

This seminar was jointly presented by the Institute of Criminology, The Corrective Services Teachers Federation, and The NSW Teachers Federation.

Conference papers are not available