Andreas Karnauchow launched his action as a prisoner of Junee Correctional Centre. Photo: Corrective Services NSW.
CONTENT WARNING: This article contains offensive language and allegations of homophobic slurs.
A Junee Correctional Centre prisoner who says he was discriminated against over his arthritis and homosexuality after being denied an in-cell laptop has had another legal challenge thrown out by the NSW Supreme Court.
Andreas Karnauchow has been fighting Corrective Services NSW over his treatment in prison, including his access to computers and legal resources.
According to a published judgment, Mr Karnauchow claimed his arthritis made it difficult and painful to handwrite. He said it could take him a full day to write just two pages, with rests every two or three minutes because of pain in his hands and fingers.
He said there were only two “green” computers available to be used between about 140 inmates, that access to computers with legal resources was extremely restricted and that he had made more than 60 requests for a laptop to type letters and legal documents.
His complaint was that Corrective Services had denied him access to an in-cell laptop with word processing software, online legal resources and legal material on USB or other removable devices needed to prepare a court appeal.
Mr Karnauchow alleged correctional officers subjected him to homophobic abuse while he was trying to access computers to prepare his legal appeal.
He claimed one officer called him a “cocksucking grub” and another told him: “do not tell me what to do faggot”.
Later, after he said he needed to finish his appeal, he alleged an officer told him: “you are on our hit list you Russian poofter”.
These were allegations made by Mr Karnauchow and were not findings by the tribunal. Corrective Services denied he had been discriminated against or victimised.
Corrective Services also said Mr Karnauchow had been excused from full-time employment so he could work on his legal appeal and had been provided with printed judgments and case law.
In December 2023, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal dismissed his discrimination complaint.
“We accept Corrective Services’ evidence that the reason why Mr Karnauchow was denied access to an in-cell laptop with a word processing program and legal resources was its compliance with the computer policy and not because Mr Karnauchow has a disability or identifies as a homosexual,” the tribunal ruled.
Mr Karnauchow appealed that decision.
That appeal has been continuing through NCAT, with Mr Karnauchow making a number of applications along the way.
One of those applications was for the appeal to be temporarily stopped so he could carry out more legal research, including because of his claimed difficulty accessing appropriate computer facilities.
NCAT refused the temporary stay in August 2025.
Mr Karnauchow then took that decision to the NSW Supreme Court.
But Justice Chen has now ruled there was a basic problem with that challenge.
By the time the Supreme Court dealt with it, the NCAT appeal had already been heard.
Mr Karnauchow had taken part in the hearing, including making lengthy written submissions and oral arguments. The NCAT Appeal Panel has since reserved its decision.
Justice Chen said there was therefore little point in going back and ordering the appeal to be stopped so Mr Karnauchow could do further research.
The judge also said the Supreme Court challenge was premature, because the NCAT Appeal Panel had not yet delivered its final decision.
The Supreme Court has now struck out Mr Karnauchow’s summons and ordered him to pay the defendant’s costs.
Importantly, the ruling does not decide whether Mr Karnauchow was discriminated against.
It only deals with his separate challenge over the temporary stay of his NCAT appeal.
The judge also left open the possibility that Mr Karnauchow could raise the issue again as part of a future challenge to the final NCAT decision.
The NCAT Appeal Panel’s final decision on his original appeal remains the next major step in the long-running dispute.
Details of the offences for which Mr Karnauchow is imprisoned are subject to a non-publication order.
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