Corrections Victoria is part of the
Department of Justice and Community Safety in the
Victorian Government
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria.
As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...
, and is responsible for the provision of custodial and community-based services as an important element of the criminal justice system in the state of
Victoria,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. In March 2018, Dr Emma Cassar was announced as the new Commissioner of Corrections Victoria to commence in June 2018.
The services provided include correctional centre custody of remand and sentenced inmates, parole, pre-sentence reports and advice to courts and releasing authorities, community service orders and other forms of community-based offender supervision. Offenders in custody and those supervised in the community are assessed for relevant interventions to reduce their risks of re-offending. Corrections Victoria works in partnership with other government and non-government justice and human services agencies in regard to inmates in custody and offenders in the community.
History
The Office of Corrections (OOC) was established in August 1983 as a separate government department responsible for the management of adults corrections reporting to the Minister of Corrections.
In October 1992, the
Kennett government commenced a major prison reform program involving the
private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The private sector employs most of the workfo ...
financing, designing, building and managing new prisons. The OOC was abolished and reconstituted as the Correctional Services Division within the new Department of Justice.
In 1994, the government
privatised
Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation wh ...
prisoner transport, security and escorts to the higher courts.
In 1995, the Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner (OCSC) was established within the Department of Justice, and in 1996, the CORE - the Public Correctional Enterprise was separately established also within the Department of Justice.
The OCSC was responsible for monitoring the performance of all correctional services.
CORE was responsible for managing the public prisons, Community Correctional Services and the Security and Emergency Services Group (SESG).
In August 1996, the first private prison opened the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre followed by the Fulham Correctional Centre and the Port Phillip Prison in 1997.
On 1 July 2003, the OCSC and CORE were amalgamated into a single entity Corrections Victoria to oversee corrections.
Prison management in Victoria
Corrections Victoria oversees the management of Victoria's 11 public prisons in the Department's Regions.
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Barwon Prison
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Beechworth Correctional Centre
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Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (for women)
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Dhurringile Prison
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Hopkins Correctional Centre (Ararat)
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Langi Kal Kal Prison
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Loddon Prison
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Marngoneet Correctional Centre
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Melbourne Assessment Prison
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Metropolitan Remand Centre
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Tarrengower Prison (for women)
The Regions also run the Community Correctional Service on behalf of Corrections Victoria using around 50 different reporting centres.
Private Prisons
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Fulham Correctional Centre
Fulham Correctional Centre is a medium security Australian prison located in Hopkins Road, Sale, Victoria, Australia. The prison consists of mainstream medium and minimum (fenced and unfenced) security cell blocks, management (solitary), and a p ...
, managed by
GEO
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Port Phillip Correctional Centre, managed by
G4S
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Ravenhall Correctional Centre, managed by
GEO
See also
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Community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...
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List of Australian prisons
References
External links
Department of Justice and Community Safety
{{Authority control
Prison and correctional agencies
Penal system in Australia