Correctional Facilities

431 Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (17 October 2018). What alternatives to privatisation were provided to the minister in the bilateral process in June this year?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing): The decision to transfer the operations of the Adelaide Remand Centre to a private sector provider is only one of the Better Prisons reforms announced by the Marshall Liberal government as part of the 2018-19 state budget.

The Better Prisons program is a major new reform initiative aimed at reducing reoffending by improving the quality, safety and efficiency of our prison system. It includes:

The largest single infrastructure investment in the public prison system in decades. Through Better Prisons, we are delivering 300 new high security beds and associated infrastructure. This investment will assist the department in maintaining the security and safety of the system whilst providing a real response to the challenge of growing prison numbers.

Improvements in workforce flexibility through the introduction of the use of part-time and casual correctional officers will assist the department to better manage the efficient deployment of resources in order to meet operational demand. This initiative will allow the department to employ more staff, support diversity, reduce the reliance on overtime and increase the flexibility of staff rostering.

The development of a benchmarking program to assess and compare the performance, service delivery and costs of each prison. Through benchmarking, the department will ensure that all of our public prisons perform at a level comparable to other jurisdictions whilst increasing innovation, effectiveness and efficiency across the system.

The changes around the Adelaide Remand Centre are just one part of these sweeping reforms. The Better Prisonsprogram will support the Department to develop better ways to deliver services that will improve outcomes for offenders, whilst also supporting community safety.