The number of female prisoners in Victoria has increased by 32% over the past two years.
The Department of Justice 2009-2010 annual report says that in 2009 the number of female prisoners in Victoria, at 313, was the highest since 1892.
Statements in the report suggest there are four main reasons:
- an increase in drug-related offences;
- a no-tolerance attitude by police to drug-related violence;
- longer sentences: and
- natural population growth.
In response to this trend, the state government is increasing the capacity of women’s prisons, and extending Better Pathways, a prevention and rehabilitation program.
The 2010 state budget allocated $80.6 million to increase prison capacity, and $26 million over four years to extend Better Pathways.
The percentage increase in female prisoners is significantly outstripping the increase in male prisoners, although it should be noted that they are coming off a much lower base. Over the past two years, while the number of female prisoners went up 32% to 313, the number of male prisoners increased 6% to 4224.
In 2009, the increase in female prisoners was 11% and in male prisoners 3.8%.
The annual report also stated that for all prisoners, Victoria’s rate of recidivism — return to prison within two years — has fallen for seven consecutive years: from 42.5% in 2001-02 to 33.9% in 2008-09.
The report says that homelessness is a major risk factor for re-offending and Corrections Victoria has developed a supported housing program over the past 18 months to provide transitional accommodation and support for newly released prisoners.
The full report can be found here.
An interesting report well written. I would have been interested in a comment from a criminologist on, for example, whether they agree with the department’s explanation of the increase in the female incarceration rate or their reasons for the fall in recidivism.
Whenever a government service is privatised or corporatised as a precursor to privatisation, invariably the incidence of usage goes up, whether it is in the numbers of children being removed from their parents with the privatisation of social welfare as is the case in the UK and the USA, or the numbers incarcerated within the prison system, again refer UK and USA.
Likewise, privatisation and its precursor corporatisation in Australia, has led to increased costs at airports, massive rises in water charges and energy bills, huge increases in transport charges and on and on it goes. I can’t see any more efficiency in anything other than the speed of removal of dollars from the poorest in the community. That seems to be going gangbusters. Whether these activities are operated by state governments, federal governments or private contractors, public satisfaction and trust is at an all time low. People don’t get a better deal from privatisation. They may get a better deal from competition but there is no competition, there is no free market with most of the privatisations that are taking place. One suppler is not a free market but a controlled monopoly heading down a road toward crony capitalism.
All I see is a massive wealth transfer from the public (through the sale of government owned enterprises) to private businesses now running these activities. Worse, many of these businesses are not even Australian and are exporting Australian dollar profits to their head offices exacerbating our balance of payments problems.. The public is never asked whether it wants its sovereign wealth and welfare systems sold off and there is a reason. Any government found selling us out would be told to “bugger off”.
We are now nearing the endgame. Fairly soon our energy will have privatised , our water, our courts, prisons, police, military and every other stinking thing we used to take as a right as an Australian will be gone. And since we no longer hold the means to produce anything, how will we pay for all of these services? What will we be? Indentured tenants at the mercy of the internastional landlords and service providers?
As we continue to privatise government run monopolies, things are not getting better; and they are certainly not getting any more efficient. I am not sure the extent to which prisons and welfare are privatised in Victoria yet but it is only a matter of time. Getting the numbers up is very important for an optimum sale.
When the wealth of the country is in the hands of the people, albeit managed by the government, if we don’t like the way that government is running things we can vote them out. If we don’t like the way some private monopolist is running those things which it now owns, it is us who will be told to “bugger off”!.