A senior prison official in charge when a guard raped multiple female inmates has blamed the abuse on a failure of processes while refusing to take full responsibility for the shortcomings.
A special inquiry into the crimes of former prison officer Wayne Astill is in its final stages of public hearings.
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 in Sydney's west.
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.
Corrective Services NSW commissioner Kevin Corcoran, who was assistant commissioner during the period of Astill's offending, told the inquiry a "whole range of failures" allowed the offending to occur.
But Mr Corcoran rejected suggestions he was ultimately responsible for the continued abuse at Dillwynia despite his senior role within correctional services.
"What we have in these correctional centres are very senior staff who are paid at mid-level (salaries)," he said on Thursday.
"We expect those particular officers to be able to operate independently, to be role models for staff, to ensure that behaviours are appropriate, to report things through."
Mr Corcoran had been aware of problems with the management of the prison, but he said he had very little capacity to do anything about the issues.
"I thought a performance-management plan was put in place by the director," he said.
But inquiry commissioner Peter McClellan KC, a former NSW Supreme Court Judge, suggested he did not follow through to see if the prison governor's actions were being monitored.
"These multiple failures come down to a catastrophe, as you know, for a number of women (and) you're not prepared to accept responsibility for some of those failures?," Justice McClellan said.
Mr Corcoran replied senior staff had done "their absolute best".
"Obviously I take some responsibility for some of those failures," he said.
"If things had been reported through properly, this would not have happened (and) if the systems that were in place worked, this would not have happened."
A final report is due to be handed to the NSW government by December 15.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
