Ravenhall prison: Rehabilitating and reintegrating prisoners – part 2

Why this is important

Many prisoners experience significant challenges reintegrating into the community after release. These can be exacerbated by issues such as:

• social disadvantage
• drug and alcohol use
• mental illness
• acquired brain injury
• homelessness
• unemployment. 

Successfully rehabilitating and reintegrating prisoners is important for community safety. It can also ease overcrowding in prisons and reduce their high operational cost.

Ravenhall Correctional Centre opened in 2017. The state’s contract with the prison’s operator, The GEO Group Australia Pty Ltd, includes specific measures and targets to reduce recidivism and reintegrate prisoners after release. This was the first prison contract in Victoria to include bonuses for reducing reoffending. 

However, during Ravenhall's first few years, changes to Victoria's bail laws increased the need for prisoner places. This led to the government allocating more remand and short-stay prisoners to Ravenhall than intended. These prisoners were not suitable for rehabilitation programs. 

The demand on Victoria's prisons has now reduced, with inmate numbers dropping by more than a quarter since the 2019 peak. It is timely to examine whether Ravenhall is delivering on its promise of reducing reoffending.

What we plan to examine

We plan to examine if Ravenhall Correctional Centre is rehabilitating and reintegrating prisoners as intended.

Who we plan to examine

Department of Justice and Community Safety (Corrections Victoria)

ASGIP III Ravenhall Project Pty Ltd

The GEO Group Australia Pty Ltd

Further information

This engagement follows on from our report Ravenhall Prison: Rehabilitating and Reintegrating Prisoners (2020).