The Prisons Department replaced the Gaols Department in 1959. It had oversight of the inmates of the Police Watch House in Launceston and other local prisons. The Department ran Campbell Street Gaol and its replacement, Risdon Prison. In 1983, the Prisons Department became part of the Division of Corrective Services which was located within the Law Department.
Although the Prisons Department had oversight of the inmates at the Police Watch House in Launceston and in other local gaols around Tasmania, the Police Department ran them. Some of those inmates were under the age of 18.
1824 - 1936 Sherriff and Gaols Department
1901 - 1924 Sherriff and Gaols Department
1936 - 1944 HM Gaols Department
1944 - 1959 Gaols Department
1959 - 1983 Prisons Department
1983 - c. 1992 Law Department
c. 1992 - 1998 Department of Justice
1998 - c. 2004 Department of Justice and Industrial Relations
c. 2004 - Department of Justice
Sources used to compile this entry: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 'Feature article - 100 years of prison service: Tasmania's history has a compelling link with prisons', in Tasmanian Year Book, 2004, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/7d12b0f6763c78caca257061001cc588/1cdf5dce2a41d1e3ca256c320024172a!OpenDocument.
Prepared by: Caroline Evans
Created: 15 May 2014, Last modified: 16 May 2014
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/tas/biogs/TE00983b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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