NCJ Number
163796
Journal
Keypoints Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1996) Pages: 13-17
Date Published
1996
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper is an overview of Australian correctional policies regarding prison capacity, prison overcrowding, prison security and management, building programs, privatization in corrections, and alternatives to imprisonment.
Abstract
Although most Australian jurisdictions acknowledge a continual increase in their prison populations, Queensland is the only State that formally defines its system as overcrowded. Other jurisdictions, although not technically overcrowded, have had to adopt various strategies to cope with increasing prisoner numbers. Increasing the capacity of existing prisons and double- bunking of inmates has placed pressure on both management and facilities. From a security perspective, the response has been to constantly evaluate and upgrade systems. Most jurisdictions are planning to build new facilities or add to existing facilities to cope with increasing inmate populations. The resistance to changing traditional work and staff practices and the potential for greater efficiencies in construction and management have resulted in the introduction of competition in the correctional marketplace. The entry of the private sector into the corrections industry in Australia has taken a number of forms, from contracts for only the management of an institution; to contracts for finance, design, construction, and the management of a prison; to the contracting out of "non-core" services. Also, significant community-based correctional options have been adopted in various jurisdictions. Without the continued development of and improvement to alternatives to imprisonment, including front-end options such as probation and community service as well as back- end options such as parole and increased remission or other controls to prevent lengthening of sentences, prison numbers will most likely continue to increase and with them, concomitant custodial costs.