[1] Periodic detention was introduced in the Australian State of New South Wales in 1971 and expanded on the recommendation of the Nagle royal commission.
Other centres later opened at Bathurst, Broken Hill, Emu Plains, Silverwater, Tamworth, Tomago and Unanderra.
High-profile offenders sentenced to periodic detention included actor Diarmid Heidenreich, investment adviser Rene Rivkin and bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse.
New South Wales ended its periodic detention program 2010, in favour of non-custodial sentences such as "intensive corrections orders", a form of mandatory community service possibly combined with other conditions such as drug-testing.
[3] Referring specifically to the implementation of periodic detention in New South Wales, Jurist James Wood described such sentences as "a minor inconvenience" for offenders.