Drug Court of New South Wales

The Drug Court accepts referrals from Local Courts at Bankstown, Belmont, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Central, Cessnock, Downing Centre in Sydney, Fairfield, Kurri Kurri, Liverpool, Maitland, Mount Druitt, Newcastle, Newtown, Parramatta, Penrith, Raymond Terrace, Toronto, Waverly and Windsor.

It also takes referrals from District Courts and Campbelltown, East Maitland, Newcastle, Parramatta, Penrith and the Downing Centre in Sydney.

The number of participants for the Drug Court program is limited and ballots are held where there are more applicants than available places.

Applicants can only be placed in the next upcoming ballot – applications do not carry over into future ballots.

This means an applicant who is not selected in the ballot must reapply for future ones.

The results of the ballot are sent to the referring court on the day of the ballot.

There is no set number of places available in the Drug Court program.

Rather, the number of available places are determined each week by the Senior Judge in consultation with the court team, taking into consideration the number of participants engaged in the program at that time and the resources available to effect the program.

Referring courts are required to provide the following information to the Drug Court in order for the application to be considered in the ballot:

• The date of nomination for the ballot,
• The applicant’s first and last name,
• The applicant’s gender,
• The central names index (CNI) number for the applicant,
• The applicant’s date of birth,
• The applicant’s last known residential address,
• The applicant’s Aboriginal / Torres Strait Islander status,
• The charge number/s for the alleged offence/s (or ‘H number), and
• The referring court and contact name.

The CNI and H numbers are normally entered at the top right of a defendant’s court attendance notice.

To be eligible for the Drug Court program, an applicant must:

• Be 18 years of age or over,
• Be willing to participate,
• Be dependent on prohibited drugs,
• Have indicated a plea of guilty,
• Be highly likely to be sentenced to full time imprisonment if convicted,
• Live in the Local Government Areas of Bayside, Canterbury-Bankstown, City of Blacktown, City of Campbelltown, City of Cessnock, City of Fairfield, City of Hawkesbury, City of Lake Macquarie, City of Liverpool, City of Maitland, City of Newcastle, City of Parramatta, City of Penrith, City of Randwick, City of Sydney, Cumberland, Dubbo Regional, Georges River, Port Stephens, Hills Shire, Waverley or Woollahra.
• Be referred by the Local Court at Bankstown, Belmont, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Central, Cessnock, Downing Centre, Fairfield, Kurri Kurri, Liverpool, Maitland, Mount Druitt, Newcastle, Newtown, Parramatta, Penrith, Raymond Terrace, Toronto, Waverly and Windsor, or the District Court at Campbelltown, Parramatta, Penrith, East Maitland, Newcastle or Sydney.

In addition to these requirements, the applicant must not:

• Be charged with an offence involving violent conduct,
• Be charged with a sexual offence,
• Be an offence punishable under Part 2, Division 2 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 where such an offence is not capable of being finalised in the Local Court (which includes commercial drug supply, manufacture or production),
• Be suffering from a mental condition that could prevent or restrict his or her ability to participate in the program.

There is no set program which applies to participants in Drug Court program.

Rather, each person’s program is tailored to their particular situation and needs, with the primary objective of addressing dependance issues that contributed to his or her offending conduct.

Justice Health will provide a preliminary health assessment to each participant, following this up with further investigations.

Each participant will, however, need to go through the assessment and detoxification stages –  during which the treatment program is formulated and prescribed.

A particular program will include abstinence and may involve methadone and/or buprenorphine treatment, either in the community or residentially (ie full time at a treatment facility).

The initial assessment will normally take around two weeks, involving health reviews by Justice Health and/or bodies from the relevant health district.

The participant will normally appear before the Drug Court after the assessment stage to formally enter his or her pleas of guilty, receive the sentence and undertake to comply with the specific program conditions.

The participant will then be formally remanded in custody for detoxification at the Drug Court Unit, which is annexed to the main clinic of the Silverwater Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre (the MRRC).

The Unit is separate from where other inmates are held at the MRRC.

Following this, the participant will formally commence their plan forward – which can involve being out of custody and undertaking counselling and treatment requirements externally.

Participants in the Drug Court Program are closely monitored by the Drug Court Team.

The Team meets before court each day to receive reports from treatment providers and Community Correction Officers to discuss the compliance of each participant.

The Team is made up of:

• The Judge,
• A solicitor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,
• A Police Prosecutor,
• A Clinical Nurse Consultant,
• Solicitors from the Legal Aid Commission,
• A Coordinator from Community Corrections, and
• A Registrar of the Court.

Participants in the Drug Court program who demonstrate a satisfactory level of participation can be rewarded in a range of ways, including:

• Being allowed to seek and take part in employment,
• Reducing the frequency of counselling or other treatment,
• Reducing the level of supervision,
• Reducing the frequency of drug testing, and/or
• Changing the nature of vocational services under the plan, or reducing the frequency of required attendance.

Those whose participation is considered to be unsatisfactory may, on the other hand:

• Have any employment liberties revoked,
• Have the frequency of counselling, treatment, supervision or drug testing increased, and/or
• Be remanded in custody for up to 14 days.

The most serious punishment is termination from the program altogether.

The Drug Court program lasts for at least 12 months, unless it is terminated earlier.

A person’s participation with the Drug Court program may be terminated in unfavourable circumstances, including:

• Where the person applies to have it terminated, or
• Where the court decides that further participation poses an unacceptable risk to the community of further offending.

In these situations, the court’s initial sentence will normally be imposed as the final sentence.

This will normally be a sentence of full time imprisonment.

By contrast, termination may occur in favourable circumstances, including:

• Where the court decides that the person has substantially complied with the program, or
• Where court decides that a person is unlikely to make further progress in the program.

In these situations, the court may set aside the original sentence and impose another penalty – which is usually a non-custodial sentence.

Those who successfully complete the program will be awarded a certificate of completion and achievement.

Successful completion of the Drug Court program will normally result in the original sentence being set aside and a different penalty imposed.

The penalty for those who complete the program to a satisfactory standard is normally a non-custodial sentence – in other words, something other than a prison sentence.

There is no right of appeal against:

• A decision to refuse entry into the Drug Court program,
• The initial sentence imposed by the Drug Court, or
• Any decision made regarding the imposition of conditions, awards or sanctions.

However, there is a right of appeal against the Drug Court’s final sentence – whether or not this follows an unfavourable termination or successful completion of the program.