A report looking at WA's prison industry tabled in State parliament has recommended a radical overhaul of the sector that includes significantly expanding partnerships with the private sector.
A report looking at WA's prison industry tabled in State parliament has recommended a radical overhaul of the sector that includes significantly expanding partnerships with the private sector.
The report made a number of recommendations to reduce chronic under-employment in prisons and to fund employment and training initiatives necessary to give prisoners a chance for a successful re-entry into society.
The Committee was chaired Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan.
"The social and economic cost to the community from a growing prison population cannot be ignored, and we must think rationally about how we can better structure our prisons to reduce costs and at the same time give prisoners a real opportunity to re-enter society better equipped to lead productive and law-abiding lives" said Ms MacTiernan.
The report advocates engaging the private sector at a greater level.
It said that the private sector could be used to develop a commercially competitive prison industry, with profits underwriting training strategies, together with reinvestment in workshop plant and equipment and contemporary technologies.
"Currently 40 per cent of prisoners in WA re-offend within two years of release. Yet research shows that the development of relevant work skills and the successful placement of prisoners in work, post release, contributes to a reduction in recidivism," said Ms MacTiernan.
"The report outlines the significant cost pressures faced by the Department of Corrective Services which cause the under resourcing of employment, training and general education initiatives and which has led to significant underemployment in our prisons.
"By contrast, prison industries elsewhere have not only achieved better resourcing, but bring about increasingly relevant workplace skills for prisoners through a greater focus on commercial prison industries and engagement with the private sector.
"NSW and Singapore have demonstrated that the sophisticated development of prison industries relieves cost pressures on prisons and produces better post release outcomes," she said.
The other recommendations include: the creation of a statutory trading enterprise or a semi autonomous trading enterprise to run all employment and industry initiatives in prisons, working collaboratively with the Department of Corrective Services; the of return profits to the development of workshops and other employment and training related rehabilitation initiatives; the encouragement of private sector involvement in getting ex-prisoners employment, pre and post release; and the expansion of the existing Prisoner Employment Program.
