Australian Correctional Performance: Balancing Efficiency and Effectiveness

• In Event: Can Global Corrections and Sentencing Performance Measures be Developed?

Abstract

Recently, Australian Corrections agencies have demonstrated a shift in their focus towards results-driven management, underpinned by efficient and effective measurable practices. However, the new focus on performance measurement presents a number of challenges to reporting agencies, particularly with the potential expansion of the private sector’s involvement in Australian prison management.
We report the findings from a national performance review of the corrections systems in the eight states and territories of Australia. Measures of efficiency, effectiveness, and outcome performance were constructed, and analysed, using available agency-level data. Each state's corrections system--both institutional and community corrections-- was then ranked, and both high performance and low performance state corrections systems were identified.
Findings show agencies that are high performing on efficiency measures are generally low performing on effectiveness measures and vice versa. The limitations of current performance measurement strategies are discussed, and next steps in national corrections performance measurement are identified, including the need for: 1) more comprehensive and appropriate national measures; 2) an analytical framework that allows for cross-agency performance evaluation within each state/territory; and 3) ongoing research to determine how efficiency and effectiveness can be balanced to yield optimal outcomes.

Authors

• James Michael Byrne, University of Massachusetts, Lowell / Griffith University

• Dominique de Andrade, Griffith University

• Jessica Ritchie, Griffith University