NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Kevin Corcoran has left his position, four months after giving evidence to an inquiry into rapist prison guard Wayne Astill.
Mr Corcoran was told to go on leave after he gave evidence at the long-running inquiry examining the circumstances of sex offences committed by the ex-prison guard at Dillwynia Women’s Correctional Centre, on the outskirts of Sydney.
The senior prison official was assistant commissioner during the period of Astill's offending and blamed the abuse on a failure of processes.
He told the inquiry a "whole range of failures" allowed the offending to occur and rejected suggestions he was ultimately responsible for the continued abuse at Dillwynia, given his senior role within correctional services.
Corrections minister Anoulack Chanthivong said he was informed by the secretary of the Department of Communities and Justice Michael Tidball that Mr Corcoran is no longer in the commissioner's post.
"I agree that this is the right path forward," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The NSW Government is committed to rebuilding trust and confidence in our corrective services system in the wake of Justice McClellan’s troubling findings."
Mr Corcoran left the role on Wednesday, a Communities and Justice spokesperson said.
"The secretary of the Department of Communities and Justice appointed Leon Taylor acting commissioner in November 2023. Mr Taylor remains acting in that role," the spokesperson added.
The news comes a week after a damning inquiry found Astill should never have been employed as a corrections officer, triggering a major review of the NSW jail system.
Astill was sentenced to a maximum 23 years in jail for the rape and indecent assault of nine women while working at Dillwynia Correctional Centre.
The 67-year-old will spend at least 15 years and four months behind bars for abusing his position of authority to commit offences over several years until his suspension in 2019.
