In its 1990-91 annual report, the NSW Department of Corrective Services reported its keenness to identify areas "suitable for contracting out". In April 1993, the Junee Correctional Centre, the first private prison in NSW, was opened. It is run by Australasian Correctional Management (ACM), a US-owned corporation whose parent company is Wackhenhut Corporation. Very little has been made public about the economic and social costs of housing 600 men at Junee. Here BRETT COLLINS of Justice Action, describes some of the conditions at Junee and questions the motives behind prison privatisation.
The most basic argument against the privatisation of prisons is the immorality of individual companies making a profit from enforcing state control. In this situation, the community's responsibility is marginalised because of its lack of direct control through the minister and because of the secrecy that the private companies demand.
Everyone agrees that the prison built at Junee was a bad political decision. No-one wanted a jail in the area except those desperate for employment since the closure of the railway junction and the subsequent loss of jobs.
The prisoners and their support needs should be paramount. They should be looked after in the communities from which they come.
Disaster is the best description of Junee. Junee has been in continuous turmoil, with prisoners suiciding rather than be transferred to Junee, away from their families and kids who have been able to visit them on a weekly basis. At Junee, visitors are able to see prisoners only on a two-monthly basis. Recently, there have also been stabbing deaths and riots.
Junee is now largely a protection prison for prisoners who feel that they can't survive in the general population due to the offence for which they have been convicted. These are the most vulnerable prisoners of all, the most isolated, who dare not complain for fear of a return to the main jails and possible death. They are also the ones most in need of support from the outside.
Junee is run as cheaply as possible and this is reflected in the low staff/prisoner ratio. There is little effort put into developing useful skills; only low-level industries are run in order to maximise profits for ACM. Very little training is given to staff before they start work, and the secrecy of the contract means that even members of parliament cannot get information on financial dealings and the state's payments.
The decision to privatise Junee was political, not financial. In terms of corrections, it can only be a failure. To date, there has been nothing published to indicate that people coming out of Junee are better prepared for survival in the community than when they went in.