Review of the Qld Productivity Commission Report 2019
By CLA CEO Bill Rowlings, with comments
A seminal report on prisons in Australia says that, across the nation and in other developed countries, governments contending with rising imprisonment and high levels of recidivism are on exactly the wrong path.
The current approach will only result in more prisoners, massive jail building programs, huge extra hits to taxpayers’ pockets…and more savvy ex-prisoners better ‘trained’ in committing crimes in the states’ detention centres.
By contrast, the report outlines a program for cutting the number of prisoners by up to 30%, rationalising the justice and legal system, and saving huge public expenditure over coming decades.