The 2011 inspection revealed that ‘Acacia Prison is providing value for money: in terms of service standard, it is without a doubt one of the best performing prisons in Western Australia, if not the best and it is also providing a financial saving to the State’. Further to this, key findings suggest that corporate profits and savings to the taxpayer were not being achieved at the expense of service delivery.
It was found that there were strong transparency and accountability mechanisms in place for the management of the Acacia contract. The contract is publicly available and a team from the Department of Corrective Service is responsible for monitoring compliance with the contract. On top of these mechanisms, this Office conducts regular inspections of the prison and makes the reports publicly available. The inspection found that Acacia is more tightly monitored than the State’s public sector prisons.
Many examples of innovative practices were identified throughout the inspection; however Acacia only applied for a ‘innovation bonus’ for handful of these. There were many other commendable practices that could present opportunities for other prisons, including Acacia’s pro-social environment and their approach to case management.