The Rockliff Liberal Government is continuing to increase rehabilitation and reintegration opportunities for offenders with the release of the Changing lives, creating futures – A Strategic Plan for Corrections in Tasmania 2023.
Attorney-General and Minister for Corrections and Rehabilitation, Elise Archer said the Strategic Plan has been developed following extensive consultation with our Correctional staff and over 100 key stakeholders, including non-government organisations, service providers, Indigenous community groups and public agencies, as well as the experiences of the inmates and offenders who provided their own contributions.
“We have listened to this feedback and developed a Strategic Plan that has a strong focus on rehabilitation and reintegration with a range of new frameworks and processes identified with an emphasis on stronger collaboration with our service partners,” the Attorney-General said.
“We know that an effective Corrections system must do more than just remove a person’s freedom – it needs to put in place the right environment to ensure offenders can get their lives back on track and re-enter the community effectively upon their release.
“The Strategic Plan outlines six strategic priorities in our Corrections system, namely to:
“The Plan also provides a strong foundation for offenders though creating opportunities for employment and successful reintegration into the community upon an offender’s release, which in turn reduces their chance of reoffending.
“This is not only important, due to the obvious benefits to individual offenders and their support networks, but it also contributes to a safer community, which ultimately benefits all Tasmanians.
“I am confident that this Plan, as well as our Government’s significant investment of almost $64 million in additional funding over the forward estimates, will help us deliver cultural change and a better, safer Corrections system which will benefit generations to come.”
The Strategic Plan will be implemented over five years, with evaluations to be carried out in 2025 and 2027 to ensure its currency, and constantly measure its progress.