The ACT is making good progress towards its target of reducing recidivism by 25 per cent by 2025, Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury states.

But Inspector Mark Richardson, a senior policeman and independent political candidate, disagrees, arguing that the government’s measurement is flawed, and overlooks the ACT’s high reoffending rates.

The Reducing Recidivism by 25% by 2025 plan (RR25by25), launched in 2022, committed more than $132 million over four years to implement rehabilitation and reintegration programs to address the root causes of offending. These programs focused on reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in custody (by offering culturally appropriate support such as the Yeddung Mura reporting site and Ngurrambai bail support program); supporting drug and alcohol addicts, people with mental illnesses, and women in the justice system; helping detainees reintegrate; helping those at risk of reoffending find accommodation (through the Justice Housing program); and developing community capacity.

Mr Rattenbury states that as a result of these programs, recidivism has declined by 19.6 per cent since 2018–19. These measures, he said, “improve access, fairness, and support across the justice system. We have focused on addressing the causes of harmful behaviour that lead people into contact with the justice system.”

Inspector Richardson: Measurement is invalid

But Inspector Richardson, Independents for Canberra candidate for Ginninderra, states that the ACT Government’s method of measuring “recidivism” only tracks those who return to prison within two years.

“Given relatively few offences lead to imprisonment, this is not a valid measurement of ‘reoffending’ or ‘repeat offending’, and doesn’t address underlying causes of criminal behaviour,” Inspector Richardson said. “This has led to a cycle of criminality.”

For example, more than three-quarters of the people arrested by AFP’s Operation Toric, launched in August 2022 to target recidivist offenders, were reoffenders. Many reoffended while on bail or parole. Of the 400 people apprehended by February 2004, 57 were subject to Good Behaviour Orders, 164 were on bail, 24 were on parole, and 60 were subject to arrest warrants.

The RR25by25 plan stated that the ACT justice system costs more than $270 million per year, and would cost $337 million by 2025–26 if incarceration grew by 60 per cent, as it did between 2012 (268 detainees) and 2019 (429 detainees).

In fact, the number of detainees has steadily declined over the past five years, a government spokesperson said. The prison population has reduced by nearly 20 per cent between 2018–19 (484 detainees) and 2022–23 (389 detainees). As of mid-August, there are 420 detainees in custody at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

Conviction rates in the ACT are the lowest in the nation, however, and the increased use of Community Corrections orders for repeat offenders may be artificially lowering the recidivism rate, Inspector Richardson believes.

According to ROGS data, the ACT has the highest rate of prior imprisonment in Australia. Tellingly, Inspector Richardson notes, the rate of repeat offenders incarcerated in the AMC is more than 70 per cent – and for Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal offenders, above 90 per cent.

While the ACT has the third lowest percentage (and falling) of prisoners who are imprisoned again within two years, it has the highest percentage (and rising) of released prisoners who return to correct services (ROGS). The use of community corrections orders has more than doubled within the last 12 years, and the ACT now has the highest proportion of those orders in the country.

“Handing down community corrections orders instead of imprisoning repeat offenders is not the same as reducing recidivism,” Inspector Richardson said. “But that’s precisely how it’s being defined.

“Someone who has received a criminal conviction and receives a community-based order (Good Behaviour Order, Intensive Corrections Order, Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order or a fully suspended sentence) who reoffends and receives a conviction is not defined as a recidivist.

“Someone who has been out of prison for longer than two years before reoffending is not defined as a recidivist.

“Someone on bail who reoffends and is convicted is not considered to be a recidivist.

“A juvenile offender convicted of previous offences who has never received a term of incarceration, who continues to reoffend, is not defined as a recidivist.

“A domestic abuser who continually fails conditions of a Family Violence apprehension order is not defined as a recidivist.”

Meanwhile, Inspector Richardson states, the ACT’s rates for solving property crimes are the lowest in the country, and sexual assault and vehicle theft are on the rise. An FOI request to ACT Corrections in 2022 revealed that nearly all (47 out of 49) motor vehicle offenders in the ACT had prior convictions for similar crimes.

Rehabilitation

While Inspector Richardson supports a rehabilitative approach to criminal justice, he believes the ACT Government has “not invested anywhere near enough in rehabilitation to reduce instances of reoffending”.

A 2022 review of the Alexander Maconochie Centre found that most detainees were bored because there was nothing to do (79 per cent); educational programs did not meet their needs (82 per cent); and psychological services were hard to access (71 per cent). Many detainees also struggled with reintegration into the community because the Transitional Release Centre was not used (88 per cent).

An ACT Corrective Services (ACTCS) spokesperson said that education programs ceased between October 2021 and February 2023 due to COVID-19. Since education programs resumed last year, detainee participation increased (24 per cent), and is now close to the national average (25.8 per cent).

The spokesperson said ACTCS was committed to giving detainees opportunities for education and rehabilitation. In 2023–24, a range of courses (including food safety, construction, service of alcohol, and new life skills programs for women) were provided at the AMC. ACTCS also supported distance education for detainees pursuing tertiary studies. Parenting, First Nation cultural, transitional release, alcohol and other drugs, and housing programs were also offered.

“In the AMC, we are developing a master plan that focuses on better reintegration so people are well connected and on the best path to a safe, healthy life once they return home,” Emma Davidson, ACT Minister for Justice Health, said. “It includes a reintegration precinct, women’s health needs and access to appropriate industry and learning opportunities within the complex.”

But Inspector Richardson is sceptical.

“I am unaware of education and training programs in the ACT having improved at all,” he said. “Of real concern is that the ACT spends more per inmate than any other jurisdiction, yet our prison outcomes are below the national average. What’s going on here?”

Bill Stefaniak, co-convenor of the Belco Party and former Attorney-General, also criticised the lack of effective rehabilitation programs in the AMC. He argues that detainees are being set up for failure upon release, leading to more crime.

“You’re asking for trouble – that’s the crux of it,” Mr Stefaniak said. “You want people who commit offences to be locked up – and most of them accept that – but you want them trained up in there to give them skills, so when they come out, they come out a better person, or at least equipped with a few skills.”

As minister responsible for the Quamby Youth Detention Centre in the late 1990s, Mr Stefaniak said training programs and apprenticeships there significantly reduced recidivism among young offenders because they equipped them with skills “to get them out of a life of crime”. He believes that similar programs at the AMC would reduce crime and help rehabilitate offenders, and is frustrated that the government has not implemented those measures. Investing in such programs would, he thinks, ultimately benefit the community by reducing reoffending rates.

“It’s absolutely appalling – I was going to say ‘criminal’ – that this government has done nothing,” Mr Stefaniak said. “It’s not rocket science, it wouldn’t take a huge amount of money, and if these people were trained up, the money will be paid back in terms of less crime.”

Second phase of the plan

The second phase of the RR25by25, launched today, focuses on early intervention and diversion programs, including a $340,000 Justice Futures Fund. Instead of only dealing with offenders after they commit crimes, Mr Rattenbury explained, the aim is to provide support early on to prevent crime and to help those who have already offended to reintegrate into society.

Ms Davidson said that many people do not get the support they need in health, education, social connection, or employment, leading them to engage in harmful behaviours that can lead them into the justice system. The solution, the minister argues, is to properly fund community and early intervention services that address a person’s wellbeing, such as mental health and trauma therapy, alcohol and drug addiction, gambling addiction, housing support, family relationship support, and disability support.

“If we get this right, we will make the community significantly safer, ensure people have the right support, and reduce the number of people who are engaged with the prison and justice system,” Ms Davidson said.

“The new phase takes the ACT further along the path to a more just and sustainable criminal justice system,” Mr Rattenbury said. “The ACT is a national leader in justice reinvestment. We recognise true community safety comes from addressing the root causes of crime, not just reacting to its consequences. The positive outcomes we’ve seen in phase 1 of the RR25by25 plan, including a significant reduction in the overall recidivism and incarceration rates, demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.”

Shadow attorney-general Peter Cain (Canberra Liberals), however, says the roll-out of Labor and the Greens’ recidivism strategy has been poor.

“Labor and the Greens are too ideological when it comes to community safety,” Mr Cain said; “they are beholden to beliefs which are out of touch with reality rather than proven and practical measures, like the ones proposed by the Canberra Liberals to reduce recidivism by reforming the bail framework to re-align with community expectations.”