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Prisons, the Private Sector and the Market: Some Queensland Lessons
Author(s) -
Weller Patrick
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8500.1998.tb01566.x
Subject(s) - private sector , agency (philosophy) , commission , principal (computer security) , business , public administration , economics , finance , economic growth , political science , sociology , computer security , social science , computer science
Queensland has two prisons run by private companies; the first contract was signed in 1989. In 1995 a competitive tender for a new prison was won by the QCSC against two private providers. Further, there is now a belief that prisons should be run on commercial grounds. The principal agency, the Queensland Corrective Services Commission (QCSC) has been divided into two bodies — a purchaser and a provider — to allow markets to prevail in Queensland corrective services. What can be learnt from these developments? This article will, first, provide a brief history of the changes; second, it will explore whether the initial objectives for the introduction of the private sector into the corrective system have been met; and third it will ask whether market forces can or should be a dominant feature and hence whether a corrective services system can or should be organised on a commercial basis.