A key element of independence is learning best practices from around the world (and learning from mistakes too), so it’s worth taking a look at the current situation surrounding prisoners and rehabilitation in different countries.
I’ve opted for a range of different administrative arrangements including control by the central government, devolved/federal state control, shared responsibilities and others.
I’ll start with a summary of how things are in Wales to set a marker for comparison.
For clarity, the “reoffending rate” generally means the proportion of convicted criminals (custodial and non-custodial) who are re-convicted within 6 months to 3 years of release/conviction – though some nations may count this differently.
The most appropriate comparisons in this exercise are perhaps Scotland and Ireland – which have been covered in a bit more detail than the others.
Just as there are similarities between Norway and Denmark, there are similarities between Canada and Australia.
The prison systems in both are partially or wholly the responsibilities of state/provincial and territorial governments. This goes a bit further in Australia than Canada, with criminal justice in general (including criminal law and policing) – except the highest courts, national security and issues like immigration – being mainly a responsibility of the states and territories (in Canada, criminal law is generally a federal matter).
Despite general falls in crime, imprisonment rates in Australia have been rising and – as in Canada – people from the First Nations/indigenous Australians are over-represented amongst the prison population.
Once again, at the heart of the problem appears to be “tough on crime” policies and the use of mandatory minimum sentencing in some jurisdictions.
There has also been criticism of the “revolving door” nature of Australian prisons due to high reoffending rates, as well as imprisonment for relatively trivial offences. There have been calls for more community-based punishments and rehabilitation programmes – particularly for offenders who have substance abuse problems or who have previously been homeless or threatened with homelessness.
One particular policy that has seen Australia come under criticism internationally is the mandatory detention of asylum seekers and anyone else who breaches immigration rules – which has been government policy since the 1990s.
