Corrections Policy and Management Issues for the 1990's (From Current Australian Trends in Corrections, P 15-23, 1988, David Biles, ed. -- See NCJ-119105)

• NCJ Number: 119108
• Author(s): W J Kidston
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Federation Press (Distributed by Gaunt)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

The correctional reforms introduced in Victoria, Australia in 1983 have successfully stabilized the rate of imprisonment and suggest the need for a nationwide strategy based on the view that only the necessity for total deprivation of liberty justifies imprisonment and that community-based corrections programs are the appropriate approach for behavior warranting only the partial deprivation of liberty.

Abstract

The prison overcrowding, uncoordinated legislative base, lack of clear direction, and lack of coordination of various parts of the Australian correctional system all point to the need for major reforms. Victoria initiated such reforms in 1984. Major elements included providing community-based programs to divert people from the criminal justice system, limiting the imprisonment rate to 50 per 100,000, developing sentencing and corrections legislation to support the strategy, regaining the confidence of the courts and the public by providing appropriately supervised community-based programs, and improving management of the group for whom imprisonment is appropriate. The reforms rest on philosophical, legislative, and administrative bases and have allowed Victoria to maintain a stable rate of imprisonment when other States have experienced dramatic increases in their prisoner populations. Similar approaches should be used throughout the nation, because Australia cannot continue to afford the enormous economic burden associated with corrections processes that rely on imprisonment.