The Liberal/National Coalition's vision for a safe and secure NSW

Giving Juveniles a Second Chance

A Liberal/National Coalition government will provide 'second chance' community-service camps and rehabilitation programs for first-time offenders convicted of minor or non-violent offences.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will:

• give magistrates wider powers to order young, non-violent offenders to attend special, community-service camps as an alternative to being sent to a juvenile detention centre;
• offer young offenders a comprehensive Second Chance program, including counselling, vocational training, outdoor and wilderness activities, work skills and, where appropriate, drug and alcohol treatment; and
• establish two community-service camps in NSW, with expansion across the state to follow.

Supporting Police Legacy

The Liberal/National Coalition believes that Police Legacy plays an important role in supporting the families of deceased police officers. Police Legacy provides emotional and financial support, including grief and trauma counselling, financial advice and assistance with educational expenses to more than 1,300 families of deceased police officers.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will support the important work of Police Legacy by:

• providing an annual grant of $200,000 to NSW Police Legacy (up from $5,000 a year under Labor); and
• funding the grant by abolishing the under-utilised and much criticised "Police TV Unit", which costs NSW taxpayers $1 million a year.

Getting Inmates Off Drugs

Drugs are a major problem in NSW prisons. More than 1,000 prisoners in NSW correctional centres are on methadone. This equates to almost one in eight of the 7,750 full-time inmates and the number is increasing at a rate of more than 130 each year. In 2000/2001, 551 more inmates came out of gaol addicted to methadone than went into gaol on methadone.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will address the serious problem of drugs in gaols by:

• changing the emphasis of the methadone program in gaols from maintenance to reduction. Gaols should be places where people get off drugs, rather than onto them;
• creating exclusion zones around all gaols where practicable to prevent drugs being thrown over gaol walls; and
• increasing the frequency of compulsory urine testing of prisoners from the current five per cent each month so that every prisoner is tested at least once every three months.