Acacia was Western Australia’s first privately managed prison. It was originally established in 2001 and managed by Australasian Integrated Management Services (AIMS). In 2006 the contract was awarded to Serco Australia, who was still delivering Acacia’s prison services during the time of the 2013 inspection.
In 2010, the Inspector commended Serco for delivering high quality service, value for money and innovation. He concluded that Serco’s management of Acacia was ‘at least equal to the best public prisons in the State and in many respects it is superior’.
The key findings from the 2010 inspection suggested that corporate profits and savings to the taxpayer were not being achieved at the expense of service delivery. It also found that there were strong transparency and accountability mechanisms in place for the management of the Acacia contract with Acacia being more tightly monitored than the State’s public sector prisons.