Peter Severin

President, ICPA, Australia

Peter has been the Commissioner, Corrective Services New South Wales, Australia since September 2012 and retired in August 2021. Prior to this appointment Peter was the Chief Executive of the Department for Correctional Services in South Australia from July 2003 and worked with the Department of Corrective Services in Queensland, Australia for almost 15 years, his last position was Deputy Director-General. Peter started his corrections career in Germany in 1980.

New South Wales is one of eight States and Territories in Australia and Corrective Services New South Wales has responsibility for prisons and community corrections. It is the largest Australian corrections jurisdiction.

Peter has a strong background in corrections operation, in particular offender management and intervention. He has extensive experience in prison management and policy formulation. Peter also presided over significant prison infrastructure design, construction and commissioning and has particular expertise in the development of service standards for the delivery of correctional services by the private sector and contract management.

Peter holds a Masters of Public Administration and Bachelor of Social Work degree.

Caron McCaffrey

President, EuroPris, Ireland

Ms McCaffrey was appointed Director General of the Irish Prison Service following an open competition by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of the Top Level Appointments Committee (TLAC). Ms McCaffrey is the first female Director General of the Irish Prison Service. Ms McCaffrey has been a EuroPris board member since 2019 and was elected as President in October 2021. The Director General (DG) of the Irish Prison Service has responsibility for the leadership and management of the Service and the implementation of Government policies and strategies. This includes leading a management team responsible for the operation and management of the prison system on a day-to-day basis which will include all aspects of sentence administration, security, human resources, financial control and service development. The DG is accountable for providing strong leadership and direction in a complex and rapidly evolving pressurised environment with a team of more than 3,200 staff and a budget of approximately €340 million. Caron McCaffrey has worked for eighteen years in the justice sector, first serving in the Department of Justice and Equality in Asylum Policy Division, the Press Office, and the Youth Justice Unit before taking up a role in the Irish Prison Service in 2006 as Press and Programme Manager. She was promoted to Director of Corporate Services in 2008 and has since held responsibility for a range of portfolios including Human Resources, and Finance and Estates. She is a graduate of NUI Maynooth (BA) and Dublin City University (MA International Relations), holds an Advanced Diploma in Applied Employment Law from the Kings Inns, and recently graduated from the UCD Smurfit Business School with a Postgraduate Diploma in Corporate Governance.