Department for Correctional Services, $462,601,000

Membership:

Dr Close substituted for Mr Szakacs.

Minister:

Hon. V.A. Tarzia, Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services.

Departmental Advisers:

Mr D. Brown, Chief Executive, Department for Correctional Services.

Mr C. Sexton, Executive Director, People and Business Services, Department for Correctional Services.

Ms M. Deer, Manager, Executive Services, Department for Correctional Services.

The CHAIR: Welcome back, everybody, to Estimates Committee A. The proposed payments for examination today come under the Department for Correctional Services portfolio. The minister appearing is the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. I declare the proposed payments open for examination. I call on the minister to make a statement if he wishes and to introduce his advisers.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Thank you, Chair. Consistent with today, I do wish to make a few introductory comments and also introduce those who are with me here today. To my left is Mr David Brown, Chief Executive of the Department for Correctional Services. Immediately behind me is Megan Deer, Manager, Executive Services, DCS, and to Megan's left is Chris Sexton, Executive Director, People and Business Services at DCS.

I wish to start by commending the hard work and professionalism of all staff of the department during the COVID-19 health emergency, including most recently following the positive test returned by a staff member at the Yatala Labour Prison. The custodial setting presents several operational complexities in relation to an infectious disease. DCS has worked rapidly to introduce a measured response to protect prisoners, staff and the community.

At the start of the pandemic in March this year, an incident management team was established to develop an escalated response plan to the pandemic. Since then, the department has progressed a significant amount of work across a range of areas and activities aimed at preventing, preparing and responding to an outbreak.

This included the innovation of several operational practices, such as the use of virtual prisoner visits, which were new to South Australian prisons, and the implementation of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia guidelines. Comprehensive engagement with other agencies, including SAPOL and SA Health, has been key to the calculated response as has the testing of prisoners, both surveillance and responsive.

The department's mission statement in response to COVID-19 is 'hold and be ready'—that is, DCS will hold its strong position and maintain its state of preparedness and be ready to escalate and respond to any changes in the health system. With this mission in place, DCS was very quickly able to reactivate the incident management team immediately following the notification of the staff member's positive result on Sunday 15 November.

This has meant working closely with SA Health's Communicable Disease Control Branch on comprehensive contact tracing and taking a highly cautious precautionary approach to operations across the department. I am pleased to report that, to date, our prisoner population remains COVID-19 free.

In addition, the support provided by the department to not only the directly affected staff member but all staff has been exemplary, recognising that COVID-19 has been an extremely challenging time for all staff, prisoners, offenders and their families. The response to this emergency is a credit to all personnel across the department and I extend my sincere thanks for their efforts during this difficult time. Should the risk again escalate, I am confident that DCS will act immediately and effectively.

Given this is my first appearance before this committee as the minister, I wish to also use this opportunity to report on some other achievements of DCS during the financial year. We have worked to progress the Marshall Liberal government's capital investment of $200 million as part of the Better Prisons program. This program will deliver 310 high security prisoner beds, the biggest investment in metro prison beds in over a decade.

Expanding capacity across existing prison sites means more jobs—more jobs for local businesses and more jobs for contractors and subcontractors. Close to 400 construction jobs alone have been created as a result of the projects at Yatala Labour Prison and Adelaide Women's Prison. Just a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of opening the buildings completed as part of the early works program at Yatala Labour Prison. This saw the completion of the James Hugo Complex. That complex includes the new Northern Metropolitan Business Centre and Learning Academy. Both buildings will provide critical support services and expanded training capabilities for the department.

The complex is named after a much-loved and dear gentleman, a member of the Corrections team, Mr James Hugo, who members may know, who has been with the department for over 50 years. The staff wellbeing centre within the complex was named after the late Mr Dennis 'Taffy' Watkins, a dedicated Correctional Services officer at Yatala for over 30 years.

The main works program at the site has now commenced, with a targeted delivery date of July 2022. Other capital works progressed in the previous financial year include the commissioning of 40 secure beds and 40 residential beds at the Adelaide Women's Prison in addition to other services at that site. The Adelaide Women's Prison will also benefit from a new reception and visitor centre, which commences construction in January next year.

Better Prisons, the government's major reform to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of the state's prisons, has continued in 2019-20. DCS has implemented a benchmarked budget and post model at all sites. The commitment to public safety and reducing reoffending in this state remains central to the department's activities. To this end, work has continued in 2019-20 to progress the important bipartisan 10by20 strategy. This strategy is working to reduce costs and increase safety for the community.

Unfortunately, as we know, repeat offenders are responsible for a large proportion of crime, but, by focusing on reducing reoffending and improving rehabilitation and reintegration outcomes, our community will be safer, with fewer victims and less crime. Rehabilitation continues to be a focus, especially with our range of prisoner rehabilitation programs. The government is committed to ensuring that these continue and are expanded where needed.

One example of this is as a result of the government's commitment to more targeted rehabilitation programs for domestic violence perpetrators. This commitment was met as at 31 December 2019, with the department increasing the number of domestic and family violence intervention programs delivered. Further, with regard to rehabilitation, the budget measures allocated to DCS across the forward estimates for 2020-21 include the pilot of a high-intensity treatment program (HIT program) that will deliver specialised high-intensity case management and treatment throughout the course of supervision under an extended supervision order.

Finally, in addition, funds were allocated for the development of a business case for a new rehabilitation prison, as identified by Infrastructure SA in its 20-year plan. The development of this case will allow key options to be considered and assessed to address future expected requirements. During my time as minister, I look forward to reporting further in this place regarding these new initiatives and on the continued efforts of the department to effectively manage offenders across the state.

The CHAIR: Thank you, minister. Does the shadow minister wish to make a statement?

Mr ODENWALDER: Yes. I just want to acknowledge the work of the staff of all our prisons and across the corrections system. I think this a challenging time, and we have so far avoided some of the horrors we have seen in other jurisdictions. Obviously, the COVID virus can spread very quickly in an enclosed space. I touch wood and I hope that what the minister is saying in terms of the protocols put in place and the contingency plans is true. May they long continue. I know that the staff themselves are working very hard and I do sincerely hope that the systems are in place to let this continue to be the case.

I will start with Budget Paper 4, Volume 1, page 118, custodial services, which is about the agency response to coronavirus.

The CHAIR: Can I just have that again, please?

Mr ODENWALDER: Budget Paper 4, Volume 1, page 118, Program 2: Custodial Services. Minister, when did your chief executive become aware that a close family member of a Yatala—we have already established this—employee tested positive to COVID? When did your CE become aware of that fact? We know from an email sent by the CE to all staff that at approximately 7am on Sunday 15 November, a staff—

Mr CREGAN: Point of order, Mr Chair: is the member seeking to introduce fact? In which case, he needs to seek leave.

Mr ODENWALDER: Sure. I seek leave to introduce fact.

The CHAIR: I think we will just leave the question as it is, member for Elizabeth, and allow the minister, who has sought advice, to now answer.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: By way of background, we have spoken about the initial COVID response and the incident management team that was set up in March, and we have spoken about that transition as well and what is being done. We have also touched on the prospective measures that have been developed to ensure that DCS is able to promptly reactivate strong controls and continue to prioritise safety over the long term.

Getting to the specifics, I think 15 November was the key date in point. I could stand corrected. At approximately 7am on Sunday 15 November, I understand that a staff member at Yatala Labour Prison reported to DCS that a close family member had tested positive to COVID-19 as part of the Parafield cluster. My understanding is that this positive result for the family member was confirmed by Health at around 9.30am. I am informed that DCS was advised by Dr Chris Lease, Executive Director, Health Protection and Licensing Services, SA Health, to be ready to respond, pending COVID-19 results.

I believe that the staff member was isolated and tested as a priority and that a command and control structure was activated. I believe that I was informed later that day, although I do not have the exact time. What I will say is that I have no doubt that DCS handled this in an exceptional manner. Make no mistake about it: it is a small miracle that this was not allowed to be much worse. In fact, yesterday I sent a thankyou letter—Mr Brown, correct me if I am wrong—to staff in the department to commend them, congratulate them and thank them for what they have done. I think I was told later that day when I was first informed, but I do not recall the exact time.

Mr ODENWALDER: What is this employee's role, post or position at Yatala?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: You can understand that, in order to protect the privacy, confidentiality and identity of the man in question, what I am prepared to say is that he is certainly a frontline staff member, but my advice is that I would be very cautious about saying too much more about that because of confidentiality and respecting his privacy and his family's privacy as well at this stage.

Mr ODENWALDER: When did he last work at Yatala Labour Prison? When was his last shift?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Because that is quite operational, what I might do is hand over to Mr Brown for that exact detail.

Mr BROWN: The staff member's last shift was on Saturday 14 November.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: If I could elaborate, as at close of business on 25 November 2020, just for context, all COVID-19 tests conducted for both prisoners and offenders have returned negative results; however, obviously DCS as an agency treats this as a high-risk situation. More than 130 staff identified as close contacts of the positive staff member remain in quarantine, but it is anticipated that some of these staff, if they have not already, will receive clearance to return to work imminently.

Mr ODENWALDER: Supplementary to that before I go on: how are we backfilling those staff? Did you say that 130 staff were still quarantined? Is that what you said? That is a lot of staff, is it not?

Mr BROWN: It certainly is a lot of staff. It has a substantial impact on the operation of the prison. As we have put in place our contingency plan, the entire prison is operated in a modified operational program with prisoners remaining behind their cell door except for controlled movement. An incident management centre was established on Sunday afternoon at the prison by the general manager and her leadership team. Every day, planning and coordination of operations occur between those two incident management centres.

But, without a doubt, more than 130 staff were identified as potential close contacts through contact tracing undertaken by both DCS incident management resources and the CDCB (which is a tongue twister for me and I always get it wrong). The Communicable Disease Control Branch and DCS contact tracers have isolated those 130 plus staff.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Just to add to that, member for Elizabeth, to give you some context, some key activities that were managed as part of the DCS response included that, whilst the Yatala Labour Prison (YLP) was being placed into lockdown, prisoners were able to access showers and there was controlled prisoner movement and essential support services. DCS also limited prisoner movement across the system.

There was implementation of the corrections specific contact tracing capabilities across affected sites. There was also a pop-up testing clinic set up at Yatala that tested around 140 staff and over 200 prisoners. There was an amended prisoner admissions process, instructing that newly admitted prisoners must be isolated for a period of 14 days. There was also the suspension of face-to-face visits, for obvious reasons, at all prisons for a while there, with virtual visits being offered.

Community Corrections offenders were being supervised remotely via telephone or video reporting. Central office staff, other than essential staff, worked from home, and there was comprehensive staff support and also a dedicated telephone line and assistance from the DCS Employer Assistance Program. The response has been quite comprehensive and professional.

Mr ODENWALDER: I have no doubt of that, minister, I just want to get some sort of time line. Actually, I do have a question about—

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: They got straight onto it, member for Elizabeth.

Mr ODENWALDER: —the pop-up testing. This took place the following day, Monday?

Mr BROWN: No, the testing at the site has occurred throughout this period of the emergency. In fact, there is a pop-up testing clinic on site again today testing some of the prisoner population for a second time. Without going to my incident log, the first pop-up testing clinic occurred at the site, I believe, on the Tuesday after 15 November.

Mr ODENWALDER: We will get to prisoners, I guess, but has every staff member who has been tested been required to quarantine until they receive those test results?

Mr BROWN: Throughout this emergency, dating right back to before March this year and certainly during this most recent incident, we have worked very closely with public health and the Communicable Disease Control Branch, and we have effectively provided advice to our staff on full testing arrangements.

The first is the standard applied to everyone across the community; that is, if you are experiencing symptoms and you go to a COVID-19 testing clinic in the community, you have that test and, as is recommended by public health, you go home and isolate until such time as you get those test results.

The second category is those people who have been identified as a close contact, and those staff members are advised by the Communicable Disease Control Branch when they need to come in to be tested, whether that be to a testing clinic in the community or a pop-up testing clinic at the prison, and that is varied on different days depending on the demand for resources on public health and SA Pathology. Those people, of course, are committed to a 14-day quarantine period, and once they complete that test they return to their quarantine location. The vast majority of our staff are quarantining at home. Some have quarantined in a medi-hotel.

The third group is what the Communicable Disease Control Branch has called 'workplace testing'. That testing is for staff who are not identified as a close contact, but we have had proactive testing on the site and staff have had the opportunity, if they so wished, to participate in a test. Those staff members have been cleared to immediately return to their workplace because their testing was part of a workplace surveillance program rather than one of those other two categories I have described.

A flow chart was prepared for our staff and released on our daily communication. That flow chart was signed off by the doctor in public health who is leading the outbreak team, doing the contact tracing and providing daily advice to me in a daily meeting that I have with that doctor and his team.

Mr ODENWALDER: Just for clarity, that third category of person, the casual workplace—sorry, not casual, the workplace—

Mr BROWN: Surveillance—

Mr ODENWALDER: —surveillance testing—those people are not required to isolate?

Mr BROWN: That is correct.

Mr ODENWALDER: Is that unique to Corrections, or are there other public sector agencies—

Mr BROWN: I would have to refer that question to public health. All we are doing is acting on the advice of public health. I was really pleased to receive support from public health at this very busy time of testing in the South Australian community. They made surveillance workplace testing available for any staff member at Yatala who wanted to be tested at this critical time, and we welcome that and appreciate that support.

Mr ODENWALDER: Continuing on that line, what time on Sunday the 15^th were the staff at Yatala notified that one of the other staff had tested positive? Sorry—initially, when were they notified that someone had been isolated and tested on suspicion of being infected, and then what time were they notified of the positive result?

Mr BROWN: Minister, if it is okay I will simply go through some knowledge for the member.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Sure.

Mr ODENWALDER: That would be good.

Mr BROWN: As the minister has previously stated, at approximately 7am on Sunday 15 November, a staff member at Yatala reported to DCS that a close family member had tested positive to COVID-19. This positive result for the family member was confirmed for the agency by Health at approximately 9.30am. We were advised by both Dr Chris Lease, who is our key contact in the public health branch as part of the COVID-19 emergency response, and I also received a phone call from Dr Evan Everest at approximately the same time advising of the same.

The advice from public health was that the staff member and his immediate family members—or extended family members, in fact—were isolated and arrangements were being put in place for testing to occur. At that stage, we were not clear on when that testing would actually occur and when the results would be available. It was not until 4.59pm that SA Health confirmed that the officer had tested positive to COVID-19.

Mr ODENWALDER: At 4.59pm?

Mr BROWN: That is correct. That is when the results were communicated to us as an agency.

Mr ODENWALDER: I am a bit confused then, and I am not trying to be tricky. I am genuinely confused about the information given to us by the minister, which reflects the email I was about to read before the member for Kavel raised a point of order, that the positive result—that is the positive result for the family member?

Mr BROWN: For the family member.

Mr ODENWALDER: I beg your pardon.

Mr BROWN: At the initial stage, all we were aware of was that our staff member was a close contact of a positive case and was being quarantined and that, as a priority, SA Health were organising for that staff member to be tested.

Mr ODENWALDER: Until 4.59pm you were unaware of the positive result. You knew there was testing taking place, you knew there was a suspicion, but you had no indication if it was positive or negative until 4.59pm?

Mr BROWN: That is correct.

Mr ODENWALDER: Can you explain the new visitor restriction process that is referred to in the same budget line—or, minister, can you?

Mr BROWN: Since this emergency has occurred?

Mr ODENWALDER: No, just in general first of all. There is apparently a new visitor restriction process for visitors to prisons as outlined in that budget line.

The CHAIR: The first dot point, page 118?

Mr ODENWALDER: The first dot point in the agency response to coronavirus.

Mr BROWN: When this emergency first commenced in March this year—March/April, I cannot remember the exact dates, but I am happy to take that on notice if required—we moved our prisons to virtual visits only and suspended contact visits across the system. After a period of time, once that initial wave and the curve were flattened in the South Australian community, as part of our New Way Forward strategy we slowly reintroduced some contact visits with the exception of Mount Gambier, where the suspension on contact visits remained for a period of time whilst we monitored the border situation, Mount Gambier being a close border community.

We subsequently arrived at a position—again, I can provide the dates, if required, on notice—where we started to gradually reintroduce our contact visits, but we have always maintained a capacity to deliver virtual visits as well. It was not until this most recent emergency commenced, and especially when the decision was taken to put the circuit-breaker in, that we suspended contact visits across the state again and reverted to virtual visits.

Mr ODENWALDER: This is the lockdown on the 18^th that you are talking about, the statewide lockdown?

Mr BROWN: Yes.

The CHAIR: Member for Elizabeth, could you ask the questions through me, please, and particularly to the minister. Could I hear the question again?

Mr ODENWALDER: I was just clarifying the date with the CE about when visits ceased, and he clarified that was on the 18^th, the date of the statewide lockdown.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: As a result of changes made during the COVID-19 response, DCS is obviously offering virtual visits. That is proving to be most successful for both prisoners and visitors. Approximately 80,500 virtual visits have been conducted since March this year, so I think it is safe to say that DCS has certainly encouraged visitors to continue to access these virtual visits as their first choice to help minimise that risk during the health emergency we find ourselves in.

It has been highly successful, and sometimes provides many advantages, including reduced travel and also allowing prisoners to interact with their family in their normal home environment. In one of the prisons I saw early on you can see into the AVL rooms, and they can actually look into their family member's home. They can have a look at, for example, the pet they may not have seen for years. It has really been quite successful.

Mr ODENWALDER: Did face-to-face family visits occur at Yatala on Sunday the 15^th?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Yes.

Mr ODENWALDER: When was the last of these visits, at what time? When did the last visitors leave?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I will have to take that on notice.

Mr ODENWALDER: Presumably it was before 4.59; would that be the case?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Yes.

Mr ODENWALDER: Were visitors made aware that an employee had been isolated?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: No. Just remember that there have been more than 800 tests at the site as well, and they have all been negative. You are well entitled to ask the question, but I just reiterate that. We were advised at the time—as in DCS was advised—to take no action and to hold and be ready to respond pending COVID-19 results. So all the infrastructure was put in place, they were told to hold and be ready and then they acted.

Mr ODENWALDER: Can you provide that advice to the committee? Can we see it? Can you put it on the public record?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I think I raised that in my introductory remarks.

Mr ODENWALDER: Who was that advice from again, and what time did you receive it?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Dr Chris Lease.

Mr ODENWALDER: And what time did you receive that advice?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I said earlier on that the positive result for the family member was confirmed by Health around 9.30, and DCS was advised by Dr Chris Lease, Executive Director, Health Protection and Licensing Services, to take no action and to hold and be ready to respond pending COVID-19 results.

Mr ODENWALDER: At 9.30?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: No, the positive result for the family member was confirmed around 9.30, then DCS was advised by Dr Lease.

Mr ODENWALDER: At what time?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: About the same time.

Mr ODENWALDER: Then DCS received no Health advice to take any action between that point and 4.59? There was no instruction or direction from Health to take any other action?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: No further advice, no.

Mr ODENWALDER: Were all the visitors who visited Yatala on Sunday the 15^th the subject of contact tracing? Have any of them been required to test?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: That is probably, respectfully, a matter for SA Health.

Mr ODENWALDER: So DCS collect that data on the day, give it to Health and then they decide?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Any request that is made of DCS they will obviously comply with, but that request, if any, would come from Health. It is probably a question better directed to Health. But if they were asked to provide assistance or compile a list, then DCS would have; that is my advice.

Mr ODENWALDER: Mr Brown told us that prisoners have been locked down since the 18^th, since presumably around lunchtime on the 18^th, the same as the rest of us. Are they still locked down in the same sense?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I will hand to Mr Brown for this one.

Mr BROWN: Once we were advised by public health that the staff member had received a positive result, the prison was already in lockdown because it had gone into night shift mode. The prison remained in lockdown, and remains in lockdown until today, as part of our operational planning response to this COVID-19 emergency. The routine in the prison, such as accessing showers, accessing phones, performing essential services like food services, laundry services, etc., have all been coordinated through our partnership with public health. Any of our planning and response has been on that basis.

All prisoners have been kept in specified cohorts. There has been no movement of prisoners between Yatala Labour Prison and other prisons since we activated our contingency plans. We continue to be on that footing with increased access out of cells as those processes have been agreed by ourselves and public health.

Mr ODENWALDER: I will move on then to Budget Paper 5, Budget Measures Statement, page 27, which refers to the community services consolidation. I assume this is what we call Repay SA. Are we talking about the same thing, the Community Services Program?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: That is the name of the program. Yes, it is known as that.

Mr ODENWALDER: There is a saving of $600,000 per annum across the forward estimates through amalgamating community service groups, getting rid of seven FTEs. What is the total annual cost of the provision of community services? I assume it is in the budget somewhere, but do you have it in front of you there?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: The total cost?

Mr ODENWALDER: Yes, and the total number of FTEs.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I will have to take the total cost on notice.

Mr ODENWALDER: Have you received any correspondence from any DCS staff expressing concern about the realignment of the service?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Yes.

Mr ODENWALDER: Can you elaborate on what that correspondence might have told you?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I think it is important to talk about the background to all this. I am happy to provide whatever comment I am able to, then I might pass on to Mr Brown to elaborate. For the member's benefit, the DCS Community Services Program allows adult offenders to repay their debt to society through supervised community work projects. The focus is to provide offenders with the opportunity not only to be accountable for their crimes but also to acquire new skills. I think it is important that where we can, if these people are able to leave they leave as better people with better skills. For many adult offenders, a community service order is actually their first experience of making a positive contribution to their community.

DCS operates a community services program from a range of sites, including five metropolitan community centres: Noarlunga, Port Adelaide, Adelaide, North-East and Elizabeth. Regional and outreach programs also operate across the state. For the member for Elizabeth's context, I am advised there has been a decrease in the number of offenders receiving community service orders over recent years, primarily since the establishment of the Fines Enforcement and Recovery Unit, as there was a shift in focus to recovering debt in the first instance, rather than paying off debt through community service options.

Given this decline, there was a review. That review was recently undertaken by DCS in order to determine better ways to deliver community service by applying a more productive model, if you like, going forward. This review would ensure that the very valuable program is viable and can be sustained into the future. The review undertaken included a dedicated consultation process with key staff and a few strategies were endorsed, and I am happy to talk you through those:

to reduce dedicated community service operations at Victor Harbor, Edwardstown and Gawler, operating these instead from Noarlunga and Elizabeth;

to reduce the number of work crews from larger locations, for example, sending more offenders on, say, one productive work crew, rather than on two smaller work crews per day; and

to reduce a special needs program operating from three locations to one central program at Port Adelaide.

It goes without saying, member for Elizabeth, that many people are happy about this, but of course whenever you have these sorts of reviews there may be some who have a difference of opinion. What is sure is that these new strategies will ensure that there is a viable service going forward and, of course, good value for money for the people of South Australia.

We have also put in place a sensible management structure, noting the very small number of offenders who are currently reporting at some sites. I believe there was a difference of opinion in relation to the Victor Harbor site, but I am happy to talk about that site because I imagine the next questions will be what site and what did they say. I am happy to talk about that and I might hand over to Mr Brown after that.

I am advised, for example, that the Victor Harbor office currently has only five offenders registered for community service at the time of the briefing. These offenders continue their Community Services Program, including on work projects in the Victor Harbor area; however, they are managed by staff who work out of the Noarlunga office. This change came into effect in late October 2020, and important work projects for the Victor Harbor community, including the SteamRanger heritage repairs, will continue to operate in the region through local area agency agreements that will be put in place. I might pass on to Mr Brown to elaborate.

Mr BROWN: Minister, I think you have nearly covered it all. The local agency agreements enable a small number of offenders to also undertake work locally under the direct supervision of the agency. That has been a longstanding opportunity with faith-based organisations and NGO groups, for example, and there is such a program in place in Victor Harbor.

Just to reiterate the point you made, minister, our objective was to ensure that, when we put Repay SA vans out on the road with a community service supervisor, there are a sufficient number of participants in the program to get a work group travelling together, and not to have situations where we are putting a supervisor out on the road with one or two program participants, and trying to get more than five participants on a program.

It was a change welcomed by the leadership team of Community Corrections to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of that operation and to improve the services that we are delivering to the community. A lot of these services are aligned to priorities of local government, priorities of the transport department and Housing SA, to name a few of our key partners in this Repay SA program.

Mr ODENWALDER: So whether it is Victor Harbor or Edwardstown, you are saying that the programs are delivered from the hub but they are delivered in the locality. So the Victor Harbor programs are still delivered in Victor Harbor? Is that what you mean?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Correct.

Mr ODENWALDER: But the people are based in Noarlunga, Elizabeth, or wherever?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Correct. I think the context is that there is an individual, whose name I do not want to put in the Hansard,who has contacted various members of parliament—as some people do from time to time, and there is nothing wrong with that, either—regarding a reduction of a dedicated Community Services Program at Victor Harbor. I am informed that this gentleman is a casual community service supervisor located at Victor Harbor and currently has a 12-month casual contract. I am also informed that there are no concerns about his not having worked as a result of the changes.

The CHAIR: I am going to go to the member for Narungga now, who has a question.

Mr ELLIS: For a bit of a change of pace, I have a question that relates to Budget Paper 4, Volume 1, page 119. Right at the top, minister, you will see an entry about the business case for a rehabilitation prison. I wonder whether you might enlighten this committee about the progress of that business case, its implementation and the content of it.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Thank you, member for Narungga, I am happy to talk about the rehabilitation prison. Wow, what a great cause. Obviously, we need to be doing everything we can as a state to try to rehabilitate people wherever possible, to make sure that when they come out of prison they come out as better people and with better skills. This is a long-term vision. I believe we are committing, as a government, to a first of its kind initiative to develop a business case for a new rehabilitation prison.

The business case will allow key options to be assessed to address future expected requirements of the corrections system. It will also examine the opportunity to partner with specialist rehabilitation supports and services to target high-risk and high-needs cohorts. We currently have the lowest rate of recidivism in Australia. It is a great story. I think I have to pay tribute to the bipartisan efforts in corrections over a short period of time. It is better than 'rack 'em, pack 'em and stack 'em'. We are doing great work in this regard. We have the lowest rate of recidivism. The most recent reported rate of return for corrective services in SA was 44.9 per cent for the 2018-19 financial year.

Reducing reoffending remains a key priority for our government. We believe a rehabilitation prison will continue to improve rehabilitation outcomes in the state and also build upon the great work currently being delivered by DCS with respect to rehabilitation programs. I thank the member for the question. It is a great project. It is a business case at this stage, but we will keep working on it for the long-term. It is a great project, if we can establish it down the track.

Mr ODENWALDER: I have a supplementary to that. I am not clear why it is a specific rehabilitation prison. Aren't all of our prisons rehabilitation prisons? Is that not the point of our bipartisan approach?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Of course we should try to rehabilitate people wherever we can, but this is a specific business case about the case for a new rehabilitation prison. We have some fantastic examples of rehabilitation programs across the board. In my only 3½ months of being the minister, I have taken the opportunity to go and have a look, and I thank the staff of DCS for hosting us through. If you have not had a look, I encourage you all to go to Cadell Training Centre to look at some of the magnificent work that our prisons—

Mr ODENWALDER: I have tried.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I might even invite the member for Elizabeth to the next one.

Mr ODENWALDER: I have been seeking an invitation to these places for a while now.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: We will see what we can do. There is some great work there. To talk about some highlights in rehabilitation programs in 2019-20, we have progressed a review into potential future uses of the Mulga Unit at Port Augusta. We have developed an options paper for a new program that targets enhanced rehabilitation outcomes for Aboriginal offenders under community supervision.

We have increased the delivery of criminogenic programs, addressing both violent and sexual offending. We have commenced delivery of the fourth violence prevention program for Aboriginal men. There is a whole range of things that we are doing. But I digress. There is some great work happening at Cadell. I also went to Mount Gambier and saw some of their programs. We are doing a lot, but this is about a specialised rehabilitation prison. Mr Brown, do you have anything to elaborate on?

Mr BROWN: Thank you, minister. I would agree that as an agency we are very committed to rehabilitation outcomes in each of our prisons, especially those prisons geared to support things like the delivery of programs, education, vocational training and prison industries. What the business case on a rehabilitation prison will seek to demonstrate is that, by taking those efforts to the next level and looking at establishing correctional treatment units within a rehabilitation prison that have a specific focus, we can deliver even better outcomes for moderate to high-risk offenders engaged in rehabilitation.

The most well-known example of that in the broader community is the role residential treatment plays for drug and alcohol rehabilitation services. Whilst we deliver programs in a prison that might address violent offending, sexual offending and certainly drug and alcohol offending, we do not co-locate those prisoners engaged in those programs in purpose-built facilities. What the rehabilitation prison business case will hopefully demonstrate is that by achieving that and providing an environment that supports that, you can achieve even better outcomes from a rehabilitation perspective.

Mr ODENWALDER: So it will be identifying those offenders who have a specific need for a specific type of rehabilitation and grouping them together in this prison, in separate sections of the prison; is that the idea?

Mr BROWN: Yes, I think that is what the business case will outline.

Mr ODENWALDER: When do you expect work to start? There is the business case development, but there is no money budgeted for the next three years. When would you expect work to start?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: It is just for business case and feasibility at this point in time, so it is something we will continue to work on I am sure.

Mr ODENWALDER: Would you envision it being a state-managed or a privately managed facility?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I dare say that will probably be one of the considerations, as well as many others, that might be unveiled in the business case. I do not want to pre-empt what that case would say, but I am sure those sorts of arrangements will be considered and weighed up.

Mr ODENWALDER: Apart from the paragraphs I read in the Infrastructure SA report, has any work been done in a preliminary way on this prison? Can you identify where it will be located, in a rough sense, or that sort of thing?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Not that I am aware, not at this point in time. Where would you like it? The member for Kavel is looking at me. He might want it in the Hills; I am not sure. No, we have not looked that far.

Mr ODENWALDER: Kavel, it is a bit close to Elizabeth.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I have been to the Elizabeth community facility. I thank the staff there as well as the staff across all our facilities for the great work they do.

Mr ODENWALDER: Indeed. I refer to Budget Paper 4, Volume 1, page 113, investing expenditure summary, mobile phone jamming. Can you outline what the $160,000 already spent has been spent on?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: The $160,000 did you say?

Mr ODENWALDER: From my understanding, $160,000 has already been spent on this project.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: By way of background, the use of mobile phones in prisons is illegal and it is illegal for good reason. Mobile phones allow offenders access to the outside world, if you like, via voice, text, encrypted messaging services and the like, and social media platforms. That can compromise community safety, with victims and prosecution witnesses also vulnerable to intimidation from offenders.

Despite security measures—and we are doing some great work in this regard with things like dog detection and other detection devices—used to prevent mobile phone devices entering the prisons, mobile phones and related mobile phone items are still found from time to time in the custodial environment. The member for Elizabeth and members may be aware that at the 2018 state election we committed to fund a pilot program to address this issue. Implementation of a blocking solution is obviously complex, and the main challenge is to ensure that the system does not interfere with legitimate use of devices too.

We have also been able to look at technology that has been deployed around the world to block mobile phone usage—for example, in the UK, New Zealand and some states in the US. In Australia, there is technology in New South Wales at two prisons, Lithgow and Goulburn. It is important to note that Corrections Victoria actually rejected mobile phone jamming proposals due to some complexities with the interruption of other technologies at the site. It continually needs a nuanced approach.

Getting to the member for Elizabeth's question about progressing the election commitment, DCS received a budget allocation of $950,000 in the 2019-20 budget. They engaged BDO Advisory (SA) Pty Ltd to undertake a request for information with potential providers of tech solutions to block the use of the phones. I understand that there were 10 suppliers who responded to the RFI and a business case was developed for a pilot based on the high-security areas of Port Augusta Prison.

The business case found that a certain amount of money was required to appropriately fund a pilot, and $160,000 of the original $950,000 you are talking about has been spent on the project to date, with all funds utilised relating to the engagement of BDO and the development of a business case. I believe that DCS has applied to carry over the residual amount of $794,100 into the 2020-21 financial year.

Mr ODENWALDER: Would you characterise the New South Wales adoption of this technology at only two sites as successful? Has there been an assessment made about whether it is working?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: My information is that this is an area that is constantly changing. Technology is constantly changing. I think it is safe to say that technology has been deployed to block mobile phone usage, as I said, in the UK, New Zealand and US. In Australia, technology is in place in New South Wales at two prisons. I understand that Corrections Victoria actually rejected mobile phone jamming proposals due to complexities with the interruption of other technologies. I might pass to Mr Brown, as he might have some further comment there in regard to that.

Mr BROWN: On feedback from the team engaged in that project and my contact with the commissioner for corrections in New South Wales, the blocking of the mobile phone signal in the Lithgow facility was successful to a degree. For security reasons, I would prefer not to go into where some of those limitations might be, but it really depends on where you position your jamming technology, which balances the risk of interrupting and interfering with legitimate mobile phone usage but achieving your objective of blocking the signal.

As I think it is very early on in the program for Goulburn, I do not yet have a view on how successful the program has been there. Lithgow was the first site in Australia that introduced mobile phone jamming. It was, in fact, a pilot project that was undertaken on behalf of all Australian corrections jurisdictions and sponsored through the administrators' council meeting.

What we do know, though, from our own research and also feedback from colleagues across Australia and internationally, is that you do need a depth of response in your strategy, using different technologies to both disrupt and interrupt attempts to use illegal mobile phones in prisons and also to detect and remove phones at points of entry to the facility. Our advice to the minister is that you need dynamic alternatives to deliver successful blocking of that activity.

Ms BEDFORD: I am sorry I am late in today. On Budget Paper 4, Volume 1, page 118, Program 2: Custodial Services, I cannot see a spot, but it might be here, about the computerised booking of visits. Is it in here and I have missed it? My question is: how soon might we see that? I do not know how many members of the committee know, but to book a prison visit takes a couple of hours on the phone between six and eight between Monday and Thursday.

If you are lucky, you get there, and if you are not you do not. It is very hard to support prisoners, and for families to support prisoners, arrange their weeks around getting to whichever prison they need to get to, if we cannot sort out this system a little better.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: I acknowledge the member for Florey and how passionate she is about this area. We will do everything we can to try to satisfy her queries. I understand that in late September, I think, we did provide a briefing with the member for Florey and also representatives of DCS. I pay tribute to her efforts in trying to improve this area.

I believe that, as a result of changes made during COVID, DCS now offers virtual visits, which are proving to be most successful for both prisoners and visitors. As I said, over 18,000 virtual visits have been conducted. Mr Brown, did you have anything to add?

Mr BROWN: Thank you, minister. I can advise that the booking of visits is part of stage 5 of the rollout of our kiosk system. The kiosk system project is an internal initiative of the Department for Correctional Services, funded through our annual budget allocation. The first stage for domestic visit bookings will be part of stage 5 and it will consist of a pilot program that is going to be now undertaken at Port Lincoln Prison, the Adelaide Pre-release Centre and Mobilong. Our projected go-live date for the pilot was the end of this 2020 calendar year.

I have not had a recent update as to whether the recent COVID-19 emergency may have caused a slight delay to that initiative, But it is our goal and our objective to have KEX take that next step in transforming the use of technology in the prison environment, giving prisoners more ability to be self-sufficient and empowering them to take greater responsibility for their own affairs. Part of that process will be to enable prisoners themselves to book their own visits using the kiosk system as part of stage 5. I look forward to assessing and evaluating the outcome of that trial.

Ms BEDFORD: I will be helping you. I just want to ask you a bit more about virtual visits, which are terrific. I am not saying they are not a good thing, but you still have to phone in between six and eight, Monday to Thursday. I do not know about you, but I cannot keep continually phoning. Is there more than one person answering these calls? Can we not have two people answering the calls?

Mr BROWN: I can advise that, like nearly every other corrections jurisdiction in Australia, we are still reliant on telephone calls from visitors to book visits. The arrangements differ from prison to prison, depending on the size of the site and the size of the visits program. I certainly acknowledge the frustration caused by delay in trying to book visits by family members and—

Ms BEDFORD: And going grey.

Mr BROWN: —hence why we have invested in the kiosk system and the virtual visits booking system that we will be piloting at Port Lincoln, the Adelaide Pre-release Centre and Mobilong this year.

Ms BEDFORD: It is just very, very, very, very difficult. How many people do you have at Mobilong?

Mr BROWN: I would have to take that on notice.

Ms BEDFORD: Three hundred and something? Anyway, presumably, more than half of them have family or friends who want to see them. It is torturous. Luckily, I do work while I am waiting, but I do not know how people with children trying to manage a family life cope. I am hoping we could do better before the end of next year.

The CHAIR: Thank you, member for Florey; I will take that as a statement rather than a question. It is time. There being no further questions, I declare the examination of the proposed payments for the Department for Correctional Services to be complete.

Sitting suspended from 14:45 to 15:00.