Report of the APCCA Advisory Committee, 5 November 2000

1. Attendance

The formally appointed members of the APCCA Advisory Committee - namely, China, India, Malaysia, Fiji, the current and most recent conference hosts, and the APCCA Coordinator - were supplemented on this occasion by representatives of Canada, Hong Kong (China), New Zealand, the Northern Territory of Australia, South Australia and the Co-rapporteur. It was noted with regret that representatives from Fiji and India were not in attendance. The total attendance was 14 persons.

The APCCA Coordinator, as the convener of the meeting, welcomed all present to this opportunity to discuss matters of mutual interest.

2. Agenda

A draft agenda, prepared by the APCCA Coordinator, provided an opportunity for wide-ranging and informal discussion about the current operations and the future of the conference, and was adopted by the meeting.

3. Speakers for Agenda Items 2, 3 and 4.

It was explained by the APCCA Coordinator that in order to provide more time for discussion of agenda items, all nations would be invited to speak to agenda item one, but there would need to be a selection of those who would formally speak to the other agenda items. Delegates present at the Advisory Committee meeting were asked to give their preference in relation to agenda items two, three and four. These preferences were noted to be used as a guide by the conference chair.

4. Report on APCCA Fund

The convener of the APCCA Finance Sub-committee, Mr Ching-kwok (Benny) Ng , Hong Kong (China), made an informal report and informed the committee that a written financial report would be presented to the business session of the full conference. He indicated that the Fund is in a healthy state as we have had an unspent balance each year we have been in operation.

5. Future Host Nations

It was noted that the tentative offer by Fiji to be the host in 2001 was now no longer viable in view of the continued unrest in that country, and it was also noted that no other nation had yet offered to undertake this responsibility, apart from Singapore which had recently reconfirmed its commitment to be the host in 2004.

All delegates present were asked to consider this matter as a matter of urgency as it was highly desirable to have the matter settled before the end of this conference.

6. APCCA Web Site

The APCCA Coordinator reported that, in his view, the web site was operating very well and he was pleased with the work of the Australian Institute of Criminology who maintained the site under contract to APCCA. The site was currently attracting over 1000 visitors per month, and they came from many different parts of the world, as well as the Asia and Pacific region. The Coordinator expressed the view that he would like to see more of the national papers reproduced on the web site, but this would only be done with the specific approval of each nation. He also called for more volunteers to become advisors to the site, and he welcomed an offer from Canada to fill this role.

7. APCCA Newsletter

Congratulations were extended to the representatives of Hong Kong, China, for their efforts together with the Peoples Republic of China, in producing two Newsletters of very high quality in the past year. Both of these publications had subsequently been reproduced on the APCCA web site.

Following the decision made at the 1998 conference to place the responsibility for production of the Newsletter in the hands of the host country for the year following conference, it was agreed that New South Wales would be responsible for the production of the Newsletter for the coming year. It was suggested that it would be useful to produce the Newsletter each quarter, and Dr Keliher, on behalf of New South Wales, undertook to endeavour to meet this target.

8. International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA)

The delegate from Hong Kong (China), Mr Benny Ng, and the delegate from New Zealand, Mr Mark Byers, reported on their attendance at the recent ICPA conference held in Cape Town, South Africa. They reported that the conference had been most successful, and that the ICPA was generally going well even though it was overly dependent on the financial support of Canada. The Canadian contribution was time-limited and was on a declining basis, and therefore higher contributions would be required from members in the future. It was also noted that the ICPA president, Dr Ole Ingstrup, had recently retired from his position of Commissioner of Corrections Canada.

Mr Benny Ng noted that as we have uncommitted funds it might be worth considering making a contribution to ICPA. Alternatively, some funds could used to facilitate our members attending ICPA conferences.

9. Other Business

Discussion occurred on the membership of the Advisory Committee and it was agreed that a new structure was required as currently two of the standing members were unable to be present. It was also agreed that there was a need to clarify the role of the Advisory Committee, and that these matters needed to be resolved by the full conference at an appropriate time.

Further discussion also took place on the identification of future hosts and it was suggested by Canada that nations with the necessary infrastructure should be ready to accept the responsibility at short notice as Canada did in 1998.

Mr Benny Ng from Hong Kong (China) circulated draft designs for APCCA plaques which had been developed in his department, and he sought advice from participants on the preferred design. It was agreed that the designs would be displayed so that all delegates could express a view.

There being no other specific business, the APCCA Coordinator expressed his thanks to all persons present for their attendance and participation in the meeting. He then formally declared the meeting closed.