Major Initiatives 2018

Corrections Tasmania Update

In 2017, it was reported that a planning and consultation process to support the creation of Corrections Tasmania was underway.

A key aim of the Corrections Tasmania project is to move from an order-centred system to one focused on the needs of each offender. The project is also focussed on enhancing the capability of Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections staff by giving them access to more information and the tools and support they need to improve offender outcomes.

Three priorities areas were identified where enhancements could be made to improve offender outcomes:

  1. Consistency:
    • The Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections now conduct the same validated risk assessments that inform an individual’s sentence management plan.
    • A common sentence management plan template for use by the Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections has been developed and a trial is underway. Having a consistent assessment and reporting approach will allow staff to build on existing plans as people transition between correctional settings.
    • Joint training programs are being delivered across the state in areas such as trauma informed care and risk assessment.
  2. Collaboration:
    • A new transition process is being trialled involving a handover of information between the Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections.
    • Eligible prisoners may now visit Community Corrections offices during reintegration leave.
    • Training resources (online and face-to-face) are shared across the Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections.
    • Professional support has been expanded between the Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections, including the sharing of expertise and assistance in working with sex offenders.
    • A new case management system is being trialled in the women’s prison aimed at providing additional support to correctional staff managing individuals serving a sentenced under six months.
    • A joint Tasmania Prison Service / Community Corrections Drug and Violence Reduction Strategy is under development and a Safer Prisons Senior Officer has been appointed to lead this work.
  3. Information sharing:
    • Regular meetings between the Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections have been established at management and senior management levels for functions such as policy, case management, programs and training.
    • Relevant staff within the Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections now have greater access to the same information via their electronic case management system.
    • Work is continuing to improve information technology through the Justice Connect project (see below).

Justice Connect

Note: The Justice Connect program refers to an internal program of work. The outcomes of the program will not bear the name Justice Connect.

Justice Connect is an initiative to address the shortcomings of existing technology in key justice business systems. The Department of Justice has identified a number of significant problems with the management of information in the criminal justice sector that are impeding its ability to effectively deliver services to the Tasmanian community.

The Department is looking to redevelop these business systems and to replace them with a system that enhances efficiencies and improves outcomes through better information sharing, access to timely and trusted information and integration across government. In the 2018-19 State Budget, an allocation of $2.5 million was made to continue the preparation of detailed requirements for this work.

Transitional Support and Housing

The 2017 Breaking the Cycle Report noted that the Department of Justice was working with non-government organisations to finalise the scope of arrangements for a new program to provide assistance to prisoners in securing transitional accommodation.

In January 2018, the Department of Justice and the Salvation Army finalised an agreement for the delivery of a Specialist Throughcare Reintegration Program – Beyond the Wire.

The purpose of the program is to offer a multi-partner throughcare service for high and complex needs prisoners who are exiting prison and who have chronic accommodation and support needs. This cohort of offenders have a history of prior convictions and relapse, often returning to prison following release into the community without appropriate accommodation and specialist support.

The program is providing prisoners exiting prison with access to case management, service coordination and planning with an initial pre-release focus leading to a seamless throughcare to post release and ‘graduation’ from the service.

The program has resulted from a collaboration between a number of non-government organisations to provide a statewide service with the Salvation Army acting as the lead agency. It will provide access to a broad range of services provided by each organisation (Anglicare Tasmania; CatholicCare; Colony 47; Hobart City Mission; Salvation Army Tasmania).

The term of the agreement is from January 2018 until 31 December 2021.

Prison Infrastructure News

Several significant infrastructure projects have been announced by the Government to increase prison capacity and to upgrade existing facilities to meet modern correctional standards.

Funding of $270 million over ten years has been announced to commence the construction of a new Northern prison over two stages. The new prison will ultimately provide accommodation for a variety of security classifications, remand facilities and a women’s prison. It will relieve pressure on the Risdon facility, improve family connections for Northern prisoners and increase opportunities for prisoners to find meaningful work on release.

At the Ron Barwick Minimum Security Prison, work has recently been completed to upgrade Division 7. The upgrades include 40 additional accommodation cells. This accommodation came on line at the end of October 2018.

Two new 10-bed accommodation units and a 5-bed mother and baby unit have been constructed to create more accommodation facilities at the Mary Hutchinson Women’s Prison. This accommodation came on line on 5 October 2018.

The new mother and baby unit at the Mary Hutchinson Women’s Prison has been named after former Attorney-General and Minister for Corrections, Dr Vanessa Goodwin. Dr Goodwin was passionate about rehabilitation and helping people get their lives back on track to become productive members of society following their release from prison. The new facilities will honour Dr Goodwin’s significant legacy by enhancing the rehabilitation prospects of women who find themselves within Tasmania’s criminal justice system.

$1.5 million has also been committed over two years from 2018-19 to expand the number of beds in the transitional and pre-release accommodation units (known as the O’Hara Units). Four additional independent living units will be constructed, with each unit designed to house four people.

Funding has also been provided to build a new Southern remand facility on the Risdon site, providing 140 beds for remand prisoners and allowing remand and sentenced prisoners to be held separately. To support this additional accommodation, updates to shared facilities at the Risdon Prison site to meet increased service demand have also been funded. Updates will include the construction of:

  • an upgraded and expanded medical/health centre;
  • a new kitchen;
  • an upgraded and expanded visits facilities;
  • an upgraded and expanded gatehouse; and
  • an upgraded prisoner processing area.

Hobart Reception Prison

In 2017, the Hobart Reception Prison was launched as the Induction Prison for the Tasmania Prison Service.

The aim of the Induction Prison is to identify the needs of each prisoner at the earliest opportunity with the intention of quickly and effectively engaging prisoners in their sentence plan. The induction prison also ensures all prisoners are effectively and consistently inducted.

The transition to an Induction Prison has allowed the Tasmania Prison Service to accurately assess the offending behaviour needs of every prisoner as they enter prison. This is critical if we are to develop effective sentence plans that allow individuals to reduce their risk of reoffending.

After the successful trial, in late November 2017, the Tasmania Prison Service issued a new Hobart Reception Prison Operating Manual and a new Director’s Standing Order relating to Induction and Case Management to reflect the processes and procedures occurring as part of the Induction Prison.

The Induction Prison processes will continue to be refined with a view to achieving a whole of service approach that is also inclusive of the needs of Community Corrections and has a focus on throughcare. The current focus on throughcare has seen the development of a Case Management Working Group at the Tasmania Prison Service as well as ongoing and increased collaboration with Community Corrections.

Time to Work Employment Service

As part of the Council of Australian Government’s Prison to Work Project, a new employment service to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners has commenced at the Tasmania Prison Service.

In the 2017-18 Federal Budget, the Australian Government announced the Time to Work Employment Service Offer to strengthen employment services in prison and improve the timeliness, coordination, appropriateness and quality of employment services provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners.

The Time to Work Employment Service will help prepare Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners to find work and reintegrate into the community after they complete their sentence. All self-identifying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners with a sentence over three months will be eligible to participate. The Service will provide all eligible Indigenous prisoners, who wish to participate, with:

  • employment services from around three to four months before their scheduled release date;
  • a comprehensive assessment of their employment barriers, including the Job Seeker Classification Instrument and Employment Services Assessment;
  • a Transition Plan which will outline actions to help address any barriers they face and plans for employment post-release;
  • a facilitated transfer from their in-prison service provider to their post-release employment services provider (e.g. Transition to Work, jobactive, Disability Employment Services or Community Development Programme, New Enterprise Incentive Scheme and ParentsNext).

The Federal Department of Jobs and Small Business selected specialist providers across Australia to deliver the Service through a competitive tender process. In Tasmania, the service will be delivered by MAX Solutions Pty Ltd.

The Service will consolidate any education or training a prisoner may have undertaken whilst incarcerated with their previous work history and post-release employment goals.

The Transition Plan will reflect the different needs of job seekers and will be developed in consultation with the participant and with the assistance of corrections staff and other providers (e.g. health workers, education providers, throughcare providers).

Also in partnership with MAX Employment, Community Corrections has established a trial site for a new program – CHOICE. This targeted program has been developed to support community-based offenders subject to orders with increased access to an array of employment, health and social support services to increase job readiness and engagement. If this trial is successful, it is anticipated that work will be undertaken to expand it state-wide. This Time to Work Employment Service will also provide linkages to the CHOICE program.

Trauma Informed Practice

Trauma is a significant issue in prisons, and daily routines within a prison can exacerbate its impact. When someone is impacted by trauma, they are more likely to act out, less likely to make good choices, less likely to cope well and less likely to benefit from programs and interventions aimed at reducing reoffending.

The Tasmania Prison Service has recently endorsed the implementation of trauma informed practice within the prison system. This decision is based on data from Australia and overseas which indicates that a significant proportion of prisoners have been exposed to trauma in their lifetime. Additionally, it is acknowledged that a number of our staff members have been exposed to trauma. The aim of introducing trauma informed practices is to ensure that the prison is safer, more welcoming and less stressful.

The benefits of trauma informed practices can include:

  • improved job satisfaction and staff morale;
  • a decrease in violent incidents and the need for the use of force;
  • a decrease in prisoner on staff assaults, and prisoner on prisoner assaults;
  • a decrease in conflict between prisoners;
  • a decrease in suicide and self-harm attempts;
  • a decrease in the need for suicide and self-harm watches;
  • a decrease in the use of segregation;
  • a decrease in the use of restraints;
  • a decrease in disciplinary charges;
  • improved attendance and participation of prisoners in treatment programs and other services.

The Tasmania Prison Service will seek to integrate trauma informed practice into daily routines, core values, operating procedures / policy and everyday language. Staff training and development, coaching and mentoring practices will also be developed and established to support the implementation and the ongoing practice within the prison system, and to build on initiatives already underway.

A working group has been established within the Tasmania Prison Service to develop an implementation plan to assist in the transition to this model.

Improved Justice Outcomes for People with Disability

The Disability Justice Plan for Tasmania identifies changes that will be implemented to ensure equality before the law for those who may otherwise be denied this fundamental right.

It aims to generate change in the way disability is identified and thought about in the justice system and to lead to more seamless service delivery arrangements and greater ease in dealing with the diversity of client and users’ needs.

The plan recognises the significantly higher rates of disability among those in contact with the justice system, both as victims and offenders, and will guide Government agencies towards goals including:

  • Developing, promoting and implementing disability-responsive police and legal services.
  • Preventing and responding to violence, abuse and neglect.
  • Responding to the needs of people with disability who are at risk of experiencing family violence.
  • Safeguarding the rights of people with disability to make decisions that affect their lives.

The Disability Justice Plan for Tasmania brings together many existing commitments across the justice system and supplements these with further targeted strategies.

The Plan seeks to address the underlying contributors toward offending behaviour in circumstances where people with disability come into contact with the criminal justice system and improve equal protection by the law for those who are victims of criminal behaviour.

There are a number of specific actions included in the Plan relevant to Community Corrections and the Tasmania Prison Service, including:

  • Improve the capacity to identify disability through use of a screening tool and provide enhanced rehabilitation and reintegration options for offenders on community corrections orders through the case management model.
  • Train Community Corrections staff to recognise and better respond to offenders with disability.
  • Include a focus on disability in the case management model being developed and implemented.
  • Improve screening and assessment of prisoners to identify the presence of disability.
  • Make reasonable adjustments to enable prisoners with disability to engage with prison services.
  • Develop specialist services and interventions to address the needs of prisoners with disability.
  • Develop effective partnerships between corrections, health, disability and mental health services to address the particular needs of prisoners with disability.
  • Introduce screening for intellectual disability and acquired brain injury and address the specific needs of prisoners.
  • Ensure that reintegration and release planning takes account of particular needs arising from a prisoner’s disability.
  • Address the needs of people with disability on remand.
  • Establish streamlined service delivery arrangements for prisoners who were in receipt of a National Disability Insurance Scheme package prior to incarceration or who are eligible for a National Disability Insurance Scheme package on release.

The Department of Justice will work closely with the Department of Health to implement these actions.

Implementation of the Disability Justice Plan for Tasmania will be monitored by the Premier’s Disability Advisory Council.

Parenting Program / Chatter Matters

Funding of $150,000 in 2018-19 has been provided to deliver a pilot Chatter Matters program to prisoners. Chatter Matters was developed by Rosalie Martin (2017 Tasmanian Australian of the Year) and uses evidence based practices to improve literacy, support positive interpersonal interactions and communication skills, and teach participants skills for developing secure attachment with their children.

The Chatter Matters program will assist prisoners to strengthen vital bonds with family and to improve their rehabilitation with the aim of reducing their likelihood of reoffending after release.

Chatter Matters will also provide training to Tasmania Prison Service staff to assist their communication and interaction with prisoners.

Prisoner Mental Health Care Task Force

The Prisoner Mental Health Care Task Force was established on 14 September 2018 following a request from the Minister for Corrections and the Minister for Health.

The Task Force will examine processes and procedures relating to prisoner psychiatric care assessments and prisoner discharges and identify options for ensuring that prisoner health assessments and prisoner discharge processes are as rigorous as they can be, to ensure public safety.

The Task Force will provide advice on ways in which the delivery of mental health services to prisoners and to people who are remanded can be improved.

Membership of the Task Force includes senior representatives from the Department of Justice and Department of Health.

The recently released Custodial Inspector’s Care and Wellbeing Inspection Report has also made recommendations associated with the provision of mental health care to prisoners and people remanded in custody. The Task Force will also take those recommendations into account.

Data Analysis and Criminal Justice Demand Forecasting

The 2017-18 Budget provided $330 000 per annum for the establishment of specialist data analysis resources. A Data Analysis Group has now been established and is developing a criminal justice demand forecasting model, aligned with the Victorian modelling approach, but tailored to the Tasmanian justice system.

The model will assist in forecasting pressures on the courts and corrections system and improve the capacity to understand the potential impact of policy proposals on the criminal justice system.

With the assistance of the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management, Supreme Court, Magistrates Court, Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections, as well as information management services, a core set of historical data has been collected to support the development of a core model focusing on police, courts and corrections.

The Data Analysis Group has applied data linkage to available data sets with a view to using this as a tool for data analysis, for example, improving the understanding of the way individuals move through the justice system. Data linkage is a way of connecting datasets through appropriate data linkage keys to identify unique individuals.

Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) has now been ratified by the Australian Government. OPCAT is an international treaty that was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 2002 and entered into force in June 2006. It was endorsed by the Australian Government in May 2009 and ratified in December 2017.

Ratification of OPCAT commits Australia to facilitate the inspection of places of detention by the United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and a national body or bodies designated as National Preventive Mechanisms, which are domestic inspecting bodies.

Tasmania has three years from December 2017 to ensure that an independent domestic inspecting body inspects detention facilities. Places of detention in Tasmania include juvenile detention centres, adult detention facilities, and closed psychiatric institutions.

An inter-agency working group has been established to progress the implementation of OPCAT, with the Department of Justice being the lead agency.

Offender Activity / Community Service

  • Since the 2017 Breaking the Cycle report, two Artists with Conviction exhibitions have been held in November 2017 and November 2018, both at Mawson’s Waterside Pavilion. The Artists with Conviction exhibition is an annual event providing prisoners within Tasmania Prison Service facilities, as well as offenders serving orders with Community Corrections, with the opportunity to display their works of art and written pieces in the community.
  • The Art from the Inside Exhibition hosted by Prison Fellowship was also held at Mawson’s Pavilion between 22 and 26 June 2018 and displayed artwork from a number of Tasmanian prisoners.
  • The Howrah Rotary Club and the Tasmania Prison Service are working together to restore a wooden boat for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2019. The dinghy will be named Vanessa G in honour of the late Dr Vanessa Goodwin. Dr Goodwin was not only former Attorney-General and Minister for Corrections, she was also a former Rotarian. Six prisoners are involved in restoring the dinghy with Rotary and are learning new skills prior to release. Following the Wooden Boat Festival, the dinghy will be auctioned, with proceeds donated to the prison woodwork program.
  • Four Tasmanian artists worked with four prisoners over a period of six months to create a series of videos examining time on the inside. The Pink Palace was exhibited in June 2018 as part of Dark Mofo.
  • With the assistance of Prison Fellowship Tasmania, a Poly Tunnel was constructed to expand the vegetable garden in the Mary Hutchinson Women’s Prison.
  • A Sustainable Prison Project Paper Brick Making Program commenced in 2018 at the Risdon Prison Complex using shredded recycled paper. The bricks are provided to community groups to be used in wood-fires for heating.

Refresh of the Corrections Strategic Plans

The Corrections Strategic Plans (Breaking the Cycle Strategic Plan for Corrections 2011-2020 and Breaking the Cycle – A Safer Community: Strategies for Improving Throughcare for Offenders 2016-2020) will both expire in 2020.

The Minister for Corrections has announced that the Government intends to replace the current plans on their expiry, and the Department of Justice will undertake a planning and consultation process for a new Corrections Strategic Plan to guide corrections from 2020. The Minister has indicated that a priority area for future corrections strategic planning will be to enhance the focus on the rehabilitation of offenders.

Other Important Initiatives

  • Following the passage of legislation to create the new sentencing option of home detention, Community Corrections has been undertaking the necessary work to establish a Home Detention Monitoring and Compliance Unit. That Unit will be responsible for implementing home detention and will operate on a continuous shift basis.
  • Processes are being formalised in relation to the introduction of new community corrections orders and home detention orders.
  • The Department of Justice has also been working closely with Tasmania Police to introduce a three-year trial for GPS tracking and surveillance of family violence offenders, as part of a jointly funded Commonwealth and State initiative.
  • Drug Treatment Orders are now available for matters before the Supreme Court;
  • Deferred sentencing orders are now available for adult offenders and, on request, deferred sentencing reports are being provided to the Courts by Community Corrections to inform suitability for placement on these orders;
  • A sentencing option of imposing a fine without recording a conviction has been introduced.
  • In January 2018, the Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections participated in the inaugural National Corrections Day – a day designed to celebrate the work of Corrections staff and increase public awareness and appreciation for the work they do in a demanding yet rewarding area.

    The Corrections Day concept started as a pilot program in New South Wales and has now expanded into other jurisdictions. A number of staff across the State volunteered to be involved in the inaugural Corrections Day and featured in newspaper articles and on TV news. Work is underway for the next National Corrections Day on Friday 18 January 2019.

  • The Australian Corrections Medal was introduced in 2017 and now forms part of the Australian Honours and Awards system. The Governor-General of Australia awards the prestigious medal to a person who has given distinguished service as a correctional service member. Members of the Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections are eligible to receive the medal if they perform primarily operational duties in relation to –
    1. the control and management of offenders in custody or in the community; or
    2. the provision of custody-based, or community-based, programs and services that support behavioural change, or address criminogenic needs, of offenders.

    Only one medal is awarded in Tasmania each year.

  • In accordance with action items contained within Breaking the Cycle and the Report of the Redesign of Child Protection Services Tasmania - Strong Families – Safe Kids, work has been undertaken to promote a joint working relationship and shared planning through the identification of common client families.
  • The Department has been working on new protocols and a Memorandum of Understanding with Children and Youth Services relating to an ongoing bilateral exchange of information, which is critical to improving outcomes for shared client families. The Memorandum of Understanding defines the agreed principles for working together in a collaborative relationship to promote the best interests of children, young people, families and the community. It provides the overarching framework for the way in which the parties work together within their respective legislative responsibilities.
  • The Minister for Corrections acknowledged the work of Save the Children and launched a new book Visiting Dad. Visiting Dad is designed to assist children to understand the process of visiting a prison and further contributes to the resources available to families to support children affected by parental incarceration.
  • Save the Children has also been working in the Risdon Prison Complex piloting a new service for children – Inside Fun. Inside Fun provides opportunities for children in the visits area of the prison to play with Save the Children family workers or to access toys and activities they can play with at a visits table.
  • Discussions have commenced with Children and Youth Services to identify opportunities for a throughcare approach to be taken in relation to young offenders who transition to Community Corrections.
  • The Tasmania Prison Service has recently recruited a Safer Prison Senior Officer who will be responsible for implementing the Drug and Violence Reduction Strategy.
  • A Diversity and Inclusion Project Officer has been appointed in the Department of Justice to develop a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan. A number of actions are directly relevant to corrections, including the need to recruit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates for Correctional Officer roles in the Tasmania Prison Service. The Department will target prospective Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander candidates for these roles, including advertising among Aboriginal community organisations. The Department will also consider other areas for targeted recruitment. The Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan also proposes rolling out Aboriginal cultural competence training across the Department and the inclusion of activities and events such as NAIDOC week and Reconciliation week on a “Celebrating Diversity” calendar for employees.
  • The Tasmania Prison Service is continuing to progress a review of all Director’s Standing Orders. In response to the KPMG Audit of Sentence and Remand Orders released by the Government in March 2017, a new Sentence Management Unit Director’s Standing Order is also under development.
  • Community Corrections and the Tasmania Prison Service have set up an Apsley transitions handover process to ensure continued post-release support for individuals who have completed the Apsley Unit Alcohol and Drug Treatment program.
  • Community Corrections has consulted with anti-discrimination bodies to review and develop screening tools to better identify an individual’s presentation and needs. These tools will specifically include questions regarding disability and whether any accessibility provisions are necessary.
  • Ongoing discussions with the National Disability Insurance Agency have addressed issues such as identifying National Disability Insurance Scheme participants, refining referral pathways, developing information exchange protocols and clarifying support and funding arrangements. The Tasmania Prison Service and Community Corrections have developed a working agreement with the National Disability Insurance Agency in relation to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
  • The Tasmania Prison Service has engaged with TasTAFE to develop an educational service model for prisoners that reflects the learning opportunities available in the community. The aim is to ensure the service meets the identified educational needs of all prisoners. Recognising that over 50% of our prisoners have basic numeracy and literacy needs, this will be a key focus of the model. Another element of the initiative is to attach a learning opportunity to every activity or work placement prisoners undertake while in custody, allowing greater access still to learnings opportunities and qualifications. Discussions are also underway in relation to the creation of a TasTAFE campus in Tasmania Prison Service facilities. This would create a more appropriate learning environment, maximise the learning opportunities available and the ability for prisoners to continue their studies upon release and expand the diversity of learning opportunities available.

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