104: Report of an Announced Inspection of Acacia Prison

Acacia Prison opened in 2001 as Western Australia’s first privately managed prison. It was initially managed by Australasian Integration Management Services, but was taken over in 2006 by current operator Serco. The government’s contract with Serco was for an initial period of five years, with options for two five year renewals, meaning that the contract could …

The expansion to 1,395 prisoners was a huge endeavour. It was generally well-managed in the face of serious risks. Filling the additional 387 beds was a significant logistical and human exercise that carried very high risks. The exercise was completed successfully, in a relatively short period of time with few incidents. Both Serco and the …

The Full Costs of Running Acacia Prison are Unknown While the day-to-day management of the Acacia Contract is good, the Department of Corrective Services simply does not know if Acacia provides good value for money, because the total costs of running the prison is unknown. The contract cost is publicly available; however, the Department has …

Ensure the Acacia prison services contract includes performance measures linked to achieving specified outcomes, including reducing recidivism. Ensure the Department has sufficient financial management capability to develop and publicly report on robust performance and cost models for the prison system. The Department should introduce wearable cameras in high-risk areas of maximum and medium security prisons …