National Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Strategy Background Paper

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Rehabilitation in Corrections
The adult prison population in Australia is increasing. Data from the Australian Bureau of
Statistics – 2006 Prisoners in Australia (Trewin, 2006b), show an increase of 42% from
18,193 in 1996 to 25,790 in 2006. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology
(2007a), 60% of prisoners in 2006 were known to be in prison previously. The median age
of prisoners is 33, with most prisoners (70%) aged between 20-39 years.
According to the 2006 Prisoners in Australia (Trewin, 2006b), of those sentenced for illicit drug
offences in 2006, 5% were sentenced to fewer than 12 months, 12% to between two and five
years and 14% between five and ten years. The New South Wales Justice Health Service
(2005) reports that about 80% of people in custody have committed drug related crimes. By
comparison with the other purposes of prison such as acting as a deterrent to further offending
or as punishment, the capacity of corrections to effect rehabilitation is very dependent on the
lengths of prison sentences and the rehabilitation programs available to them.
Black, Dolan and Wodak (2004) undertook a study of supply, demand and reduction
strategies in Australian prisons. The authors commented on the absence of information
about the effectiveness of some strategies, the long term consequences of these strategies
in terms of benefits and adverse consequences, and their costs. The study found, for
example, that supply reduction strategies which include drug detection dogs and urinalysis
are yet to be evaluated in terms of overall benefits, value and cost. The study identified
favourable outcomes for some demand reduction strategies including detoxification,
methadone treatment, inmate programs and counselling, and drug-free units but found that
the availability of these services was insufficient. There was also evidence of insufficient
implementation of relatively inexpensive harm reduction strategies such as education,
peer education, blood-borne viral infection (BBVI) testing, hepatitis B vaccination, condom
provision, bleach/detergent provision, naloxone provision and needle and syringe programs
despite favourable evaluations and their relatively low cost of implementation.
In 2006, a draft National Corrections Drug Strategy 2006-2009 was developed to
complement the National Drug Strategy. It identified six principles for consideration by
jurisdictions. These include:
• Achieve an appropriate balance between the priority areas of supply reduction, demand
reduction and harm reduction;
• Provide services to a level equal to those provided in the wider community;
• Support the specific needs of Indigenous people;
• Use evidence based good practice examples;
• Establish partnerships across relevant agencies and support organisations; and
• Provide a continuity of care throughout the period of sentencing and beyond.