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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-09-21 Daily Xml
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Correctional Services, Reoffending Reduction

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:19): My question is to the Minister for Correctional Services. Can the minister advise the chamber about the government's target to reduce reoffending and the efforts being taken to ensure the government achieves that target?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:19): I would like to thank the honourable member again for his important question. Last month, I was very proud to announce 10 by 20, which is the government's commitment to a 10 per cent reduction in the number of people who re-enter correctional services by 2020. This strategy is first and foremost about building a safer community through reduced reoffending. If we can reduce the rate of reoffending in South Australia, we will create a safer community with less crime, and that of course means fewer victims.

Currently in South Australia, 46 per cent of those released from prison will return to corrective services within two years. While it is true to say that it is better than the national average, I think we can all agree that it is a statistic that still remains too high. In order to be able to reach the target, the cabinet has appointed a strategic policy panel whose job it is to provide the government and myself with independent advice on the development of a three-year plan which will enable us to reach that target.

The panel is being chaired by none other than the highly respected Indigenous leader, Mr Warren Mundine AO. The membership of the panel includes a former premier (but just as importantly, a former CE of Anglicare), the Hon. Reverend Dr Lynn Arnold, who was here earlier today; the former South Australian police commissioner, Mr Mal Hyde; the deputy chair of Business SA, Ms Nikki Govan; South Australian broadcaster, Ms Amanda Blair (and of course her passion for corrections is well known); former vice chancellor of Flinders University, Emeritus Professor Anne Edwards; and the victims of crime commissioner, Mr Michael O'Connell.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: It is a high-powered panel.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: It is a great panel. The panel of strong policy thinkers, business minds and community leaders will deliver a fresh set of ideas and evidence-based insights on how we can reduce the rate of reoffending in South Australia. All of the panel members have thrown themselves into the task. I have, obviously, engaged with the panel on more than one occasion since their employment and they are busily at work.

While in some sectors of the community there is still a perception of the old school 'lock 'em up and throw away the key' mentality, the business of corrections is changing internationally and for the better. I have said on more than one occasion that the days of the rhetoric of rack 'em, pack 'em and stack 'em are very much gone. As a community, we need to recognise that imprisonment is exceptionally costly and all too often leads to perverse outcomes. Continued growth in the prison system will lead to continued growth in the cost to the South Australian taxpayer.

In addition, while the number of people incarcerated grows, the majority of those within the prison system will eventually return to the community by virtue of their sentence concluding. We do not want them to find their way back into correctional services because that, of course, would mean that they have committed a new offence. We want to stem the growth of our prison system by preventing those who have offended previously from doing so again.

We have set this target because we want to reduce reoffending and we want to be accountable to the target. Our strategy will promote a whole-of-government and community commitment to offender rehabilitation and reintegration and be informed by international best practice. I know that other jurisdictions have targets in place and, as is the case with all forms of public policy, I know that ultimately we all have this commonality of purpose, a desire to reduce reoffending and keep our community safer.

The achievement of this target will not be an easy task. Our friends in New South Wales have set a far less ambitious target of 5 per cent by 2020, but I am confident that with the hard work of the staff within the Department for Correctional Services, particularly those people on the front line, we will be able to strive to attain this target. I would encourage all members of the community to engage in the discussion via the YourSAy website, and I welcome any ideas that exist within the community on how to achieve the target. Finally, I look forward to keeping this place informed of the progress of the panel and their findings later this year.

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