Commissioner of Corrective Services (New South Wales)

The Commissioner of Corrective Services is a statutory office-holder in the State of New South Wales, Australia, with responsibility for the State's prison, parole and community corrections systems. The Commissioner is Gary McCahon PSM. Between 2009 and 2024, Corrections was a division of the State's justice department, currently known as the Department of Communities and Justice. Prior to 2009 and since 2024, the Commissioner managed their own Department of Corrective Services, known from 1 October 2024 as Corrective Services NSW.

Commissioner of Corrective Services
Incumbent Gary McCahon PSM since 3 March 2025
Corrective Services NSW
Style	Commissioner
Reports to	Minister for Corrections
Seat	Strawberry Hills, New South Wales
Nominator	Minister for Corrections
Appointer	Governor of New South Wales
Constituting instrument	Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW)
Precursor	Comptroller-General Sheriff Provost Marshal
Formation	26 January 1788
First holder	Henry Brewer

Previous office-holders

Between 1979 and 1988, the Department of Corrective Services was managed by a five-person Corrective Services Commission. This model had been recommended by John Nagle in his royal commission report. From 2009, the Commissioner served as a deputy secretary within the larger Department of Justice. From 1 October 2024, the role of Commissioner became treated identically to Commissioners of other frontline agencies, and is appointed directly by the Minister. Although commissioners have generally been recruited from other professions, both the incumbent and his predecessor began their careers as prison officers.

List of Corrective Services Commissioners

Name	Title	Agency	Term start	Term end	Term duration
Henry Brewer	Provost Marshal		26 January 1788	February 1796	8 years, 6 days
Thomas Smyth	Provost Marshal		February 1796	20 December 1804	8 years, 323 days
Garnham Blaxcell	Acting Provost Marshal		20 December 1804	1 August 1805	224 days
William Gore	Provost Marshal		1 August 1805	8 March 1819	13 years, 219 days
John Thomas Campbell	Provost Marshal		8 March 1819	January 1824	4 years, 299 days
John Mackaness	Sheriff	Office of the Sheriff	January 1824	November 1827
William Carter	Sheriff	Office of the Sheriff	1828	1828
Thomas Macquoid	Sheriff	Office of the Sheriff	1829	1841
Adolphus William Young	Sheriff	Office of the Sheriff	1843	1849
Gilbert Eliot	Sheriff	Office of the Sheriff	1849	1854
John O'Neill Brenan	Sheriff	Office of the Sheriff	1855	1860
George Richard Uhr	Sheriff	Office of the Sheriff	1861	1864
Harold Maclean	Sheriff	Office of the Sheriff	1864	1874
Harold Maclean	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	1874	1889	15 years, 0 days
George Miller	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	8 January 1890	1896	5 years, 358 days
William Neitenstein[1][2][3]	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	22 June 1896	17 September 1909	13 years, 87 days
WM McFarlane[4]	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	1 March 1910	29 April 1914	4 years, 59 days
Samuel McCauley[5][6]	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	29 April 1914	19 December 1919	5 years, 234 days
Denis Gaynor D'Arcy	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	31 December 1919	2 February 1922	2 years, 33 days
William Urquhart[7]	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	8 February 1922	17 May 1925	3 years, 98 days
HH McDougall[8]	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	17 May 1925	24 June 1925	38 days
George Steele[9]	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	24 June 1925	31 December 1927	2 years, 190 days
William Francis Hinchy[10]	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	3 January 1928	31 January 1940	12 years, 28 days
George F. Murphy	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	31 January 1940	31 July 1947	7 years, 181 days
Leslie Cecil Joshua Nott[11]	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	31 July 1947	30 June 1956	8 years, 335 days
Harold Richard Vagg	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	20 July 1956	9 August 1960	4 years, 20 days
John Arthur Morony	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	9 August 1960	14 July 1968	7 years, 340 days
Walter McGeechan	Comptroller-General	Department of Prisons	15 July 1968	1970
Walter McGeechan	Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	1970	18 January 1978
Leslie Kenneth Downs	Acting Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	18 January 1978	19 June 1978	152 days
Leslie Kenneth Downs	Associate Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	19 June 1978	15 November 1978	149 days
Noel Stanley Day	Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	19 June 1978	19 March 1979	273 days
Dr Phillippe Anthony Vinson	Chairman and Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	19 March 1979	6 October 1981	2 years, 201 days
Noel Stanley Day	Deputy Chairman and Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	19 March 1979	19 March 1986	9 years, 143 days
Arnold Victor Bailey	Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	19 March 1979	19 March 1986	9 years, 143 days
Dr John Victor Temple Ellard	Commissioner (part-time)	Department of Corrective Services	19 March 1979	19 March 1986	9 years, 143 days
Francis Daniel Hayes	Commissioner (part-time)	Department of Corrective Services	19 March 1979	19 March 1986	9 years, 143 days
Vern Dalton	Chairman and Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	1981	22 August 1988
Stanley Miller	Commissioner (part-time)	Department of Corrective Services	19 March 1986	22 August 1988
Dr Glenice Kay Hancock	Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	1 December 1986	22 August 1988
Dr Susan Carol Hayes	Commissioner (part-time)	Department of Corrective Services	1 December 1986	22 August 1988
David John Robert Grant	Deputy Chairman and Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	27 January 1987	22 August 1988
Noel Stanley Day	Acting Director-General	Department of Corrective Services	22 August 1988	8 March 1989
Angus Graham	Director-General	Department of Corrective Services	8 March 1989	10 October 1991	2 years, 216 days
Angus Graham	Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	10 October 1991
Neville Smethurst	Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services		26 August 1996
Dr Leo Keliher	Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	26 August 1996	2002
Ron Woodham	Commissioner	Department of Corrective Services	2002	2009	10 years
Ron Woodham	Commissioner	Department of Justice and Attorney General	2009	2012	10 years
Peter Severin	Commissioner	Department of Attorney General and Justice	2012	2021	9 years
Kevin Corcoran PSM	Commissioner	Department of Communities and Justice	2021	2024	3 years
Leon Taylor	Acting Commissioner	Department of Communities and Justice Corrective Services NSW (from 1 October 2024)	27 November 2023	2 March 2025	15 months
Gary McCahon PSM	Commissioner	Corrective Services NSW	3 March 2025