Conference Business

Two sessions of the conference were devoted to APCCA business. These were held on Tuesday, 7 November and Friday, 10 November. The APCCA Advisory Committee also met on two occasions, Sunday, 5 November and Thursday, 9 November. A report of the first of these meetings is included as Appendix E. The second meeting was mainly devoted to a consideration of suggested agenda items for the 21st APCCA, the results of which are recorded below.

Classification Workshop

As requested at the 19th APCCA in Shanghai, a special workshop on the classification of prisoners was conducted by Luke Grant, Director, Inmate Classification and Programs of the NSW Department of Corrective Services. Participation in this workshop was on a voluntary basis, but virtually all delegates chose to attend and many contributed to the discussion. Luke Grant, in his opening address to the workshop, outlined the historical and philosophical basis of classification and raised two basic questions for discussion. The questions were:

1. Is there a need for a separate classification system for female inmates, and
2. Is there a case for community involvement in classification?

There was general agreement that it was desirable for a separate classification system to be developed for female inmates as it was likely that the application of a single system to both men and women would result in the over-classification of females. The issue of community involvement was seen as more problematic, however, particularly with regard to victims, but there was a positive role for representatives of the community to play in case conferences and consultative committees.

The success of this workshop was seen as indicating the direction that future APCCA meetings may develop.

Preparation of the Conference Report

The arrangements for the preparation and distribution of the conference report were outlined at the business sessions of the conference as well as at the first meeting of the Advisory Committee. A draft report, which did not include details of the conference business and closing ceremony, was circulated to delegates at the beginning of the final business session with an invitation for suggested amendments to be submitted to the APCCA Coordinator in writing within the next two or three weeks.

It was noted that the final report of the conference would be printed and circulated by the New South Wales hosts early in 2001. (It is customary for six copies of the final report to be forwarded to the larger nations and territories attending the conference, and two copies to the smaller nations and territories. It has also been customary for one copy of the final report to be forwarded to nations and territories who have been unable to attend the conference, and 20 copies are allocated to the APCCA Coordinator for distribution to relevant libraries and institutions.)

Hosts for Future Conferences

This subject was discussed at the first of the meetings of the APCCA Advisory Committee and, at that time, there had been no identification of a host for 2001 or later, apart from Singapore in 2004.

At the first full conference business session, however, Thailand offered to be the host for 2001. This offer was greeted by enthusiastic acclamation of all delegates. The Thai delegate also invited Professor David Biles and Mr Neil Morgan to assist, and this invitation was accepted. He then sought views on the preferred location in Thailand and a clear preference for Chiang Mai was expressed.

The delegate from Indonesia then offered to host the 22nd APCCA in Bali in 2002 and he pointed out that Bali had not been subjected to the problems that had occurred in recent years in other parts of Indonesia. This offer was also warmly accepted with the acclamation of the full conference.

The offer by Singapore to be the host in 2004 was confirmed, and it was also agreed that in the case of emergencies, nations with an appropriate infrastructure should be prepared to step in and accept the responsibility of hosting at short notice. The hope was expressed, however, that this would not be necessary.

Agenda items for the 21st APCCA

At the first business session of the conference a call was made for all delegates to submit in writing suggestions for agenda items to be discussed at the 21st APCCA. A total of 15 suggestions was received, as indicated in the following list:

AUSTRALIA

1. Foreign Prisoners and International Transfer
2. Prison Discipline and Grievance Procedures

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

3. The Treatment of Drug Offenders

CANADA

4. Indigenous/Aboriginal Offenders and Prisoners
5. The Management of Gangs and Triads in Correctional Institutions

CHINA

6. The Administration, Correction and Treatment of Drug Affected Offenders

NEW ZEALAND

7. Correctional Through-care: the Integration of Custodial and Community Treatment

THAILAND

8. The Management of Foreign Prisoners

HONG KONG (CHINA)

9. IT Applications in Corrections
10. Management by Performance Indicators
11. Restorative Justice
12. Outsourcing
13. The Management of Young Offenders
14. The Provision of Psychological Services
15. Mixed Gender Management

The second meeting of the Advisory Committee considered this list and noted that there was considerable overlap between many of the suggestions. After careful consideration, the Advisory Committee recommended (and the full conference later accepted) that the following items comprise the agenda for the 21st APCCA:

1.   National Report on Contemporary Issues in Corrections

This would follow the practice established in recent years and all nations would be expected to make presentations.

For agenda items 2, 3 and 4, while all nations are asked to prepare written reports, presentation at the conference will only be expected from six or seven nations in order to allow more time for discussion and an exchange of views.

2.   Foreign Prisoners and International Transfers

This agenda item will include a consideration of the management issues posed by the presence of foreigners in any prison population. These issues may include dietary requirements, language difficulties, religious practices, health and hygiene considerations and cultural isolation. The severity of these matters as management problems will depend, of course, on the extent of the difference between the nation in which the foreigner is imprisoned and his or her home nation. For some foreign prisoners, transfer back to his or her home nation for humanitarian reasons may be a viable option, but there may be significant political, administrative and economic difficulties with this option.

3.   Drug Offenders - Psychological and Other Treatment

The selection of this agenda item was intended to provide an opportunity for consideration of the increasingly significant problem throughout the Asia and Pacific region, of dealing with drug offenders. It will also provide an opportunity for consideration of the role of psychologists in corrections, with particular regard to what they have to offer to the treatment of drug offenders. Other forms of treatment for drug offenders may also be included, as well as other aspects of the work of correctional psychologists.

4.   The Management of Special Groups of Offenders

This agenda item will allow for the consideration of the needs of minority groups in prison, such as the young, or the elderly, or members of gangs or triads. The scope of this item is not to include foreign prisoners, however, as their needs will have been considered under Agenda Item 2. Also, the needs of women prisoners are not intended to be included as that topic was considered in detail at the 20th APCCA in 2000. Other minorities that might be included, however, could include those needing protection, dangerous or recalcitrant prisoners, and the intellectually or physically disabled.

It was also suggested by the Advisory Committee (and later accepted by the full conference) that the organisers of the 21st APCCA may consider making provision for two workshops, or small discussion groups, dealing with:

1. Indigenous Offenders and Restorative Justice, and
2. Correctional Through-care: the Integration of Custodial and Community Treatment.

It is possible that representatives of nations other than the host nation may be invited to take the lead in the presentation of these workshops.

Working Group to Consider APCCA Future Management

After informal discussions over the period of the conference, the final business session received a proposal for the establishment of a Working Group on APCCA Support Services.

APCCA members resolved that a Working Group be formed to review the work of the APCCA Coordinator and to make appropriate recommendations for steps to be taken in order to ensure that the support services for the APCCA can be sustained beyond the 2001 annual conference after the retirement of the current APCCA Coordinator.

Mr Benny NG from Hong Kong (China) was appointed to form and head the Working Group. It was proposed that the working group comprise from six to eight APCCA members including representatives of Singapore (sponsoring host of the Working Group meetings) and Thailand (the 21st Conference Host), with other nations offering themselves as members, and, if necessary, the Chair inviting other nations to nominate representatives.

It is proposed that Terms of reference, a Schedule of Work and a Conceptual Paper will be developed for the working group. The Conceptual Paper is to be considered at a meeting of the working group, scheduled for June 2001, which is to be held in Singapore. A report arising from that meeting is to be considered at the 21st APCCA in Chiang Mai, that report being circulated to all participants for consideration prior to the 2001 Conference.

New Structure for APCCA Advisory Committee

The Conference chair, Dr Keliher, proposed the following model for the Advisory Committee to be considered by APCCA participants:

• The Advisory Committee Chair will be the current year's host;
• Permanent Membership should reside with the Peoples Republic of China, Indonesia, Canada and Japan (subject to confirmation);
• Previous Host Membership comprising the past 5 host nations;
• Rotating membership comprising 3 reverse alphabetically chosen nations based on attendance;
• The APCCA Coordinator to be an ex-officio member.

This proposal was accepted by the meeting.

APCCA Newsletter

It was reported that China, with the assistance of Hong Kong (China), had produced two high-quality issues of the APCCA Newsletter in the previous twelve months, and the New South Wales had agreed to accept this responsibility for the coming twelve months.

APCCA Internet Web Site

The APCCA Coordinator reported that the web site was operating satisfactorily, under contract by the Australian Institute of Criminology. The address for the site is: www.apcca.org and it currently being visited by more than 1000 visitors each month. An effort is made to keep the site interesting, by including, for example, each newsletter after it published. The full report of each conference is also published on the site.

The APCCA Coordinator expressed the view the site would become even more valuable and interesting if more of the national discussion papers were published there. These papers, which are circulated at each conference, will only be published on the site if the nations which prepared them gave their specific approval, as some nations may regard them as confidential. At present a small number of nations have given this approval.

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