Rehabilitating and reintegrating prisoners

Tabled Report 1: 2026–27

Tabled date

2026-07-07

Report year

2026-27

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Community welfare Justice and public order

Entities audited

• Queensland Corrective Services

Recommendations

1. QAO's text Addressed to: strengthens its planning approach to prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration. This

   strengthens its planning approach to prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration. This should include

   • analysing its prisoner population to better understand the different prisoner cohorts and their risks and needs
   • ensuring it has the right programs and services for the prisoner population
   • ensuring its supporting plans include the key elements of its approach to prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration and outline actions, time frames, and roles and responsibilities
   • explaining the actions and outcomes it seeks to achieve from rehabilitation and reintegration.

2. QAO's text Addressed to: strengthens how it oversees prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration across the state. This

   strengthens how it oversees prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration across the state. This should include

   • reviewing and where necessary updating its governance arrangements to ensure they are fit for purpose and provide effective oversight
   • ensuring it has a sufficient suite of outcome-focused performance measures
   • monitoring performance against its strategies, objectives, and performance measures
   • regularly reporting performance information to key decision makers, including whether correctional centres are effectively delivering the key elements of its approach to prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration
   • evaluating whether its strategies are effectively rehabilitating and reintegrating prisoners and achieving their intended outcomes.

3. QAO's text Addressed to: identifies and implements a case management delivery model to enhance delivery across the correctional system and optimise rehabilitation and reintegration outcomes. This

   identifies and implements a case management delivery model to enhance delivery across the correctional system and optimise rehabilitation and reintegration outcomes. This should include ensuring all prisoners get a risk and needs assessment on entry to custody to inform their rehabilitation and reintegration support.

4. QAO's text Addressed to: strengthens its data governance. This

   strengthens its data governance. This should include its processes for data capture and its quality assurance mechanisms to ensure the information that it reports, including the time prisoners spend outside their cell, is accurate and complete.

5. QAO's text Addressed to: improves its approach to prisoner reintegration by ensuring reintegration planning and support commences from the time a prisoner enters custody, through to when they leave and reintegrate back into the community developing a plan to safely and securely optimise the use of low security correctional centres to rehabilitate and reintegrate prisoners. This

   improves its approach to prisoner reintegration by

   • ensuring reintegration planning and support commences from the time a prisoner enters custody, through to when they leave and reintegrate back into the community
   • developing a plan to safely and securely optimise the use of low security correctional centres to rehabilitate and reintegrate prisoners. This should include a detailed assessment of strategic and operational risks and appropriate mitigation controls
   • strengthening its contract management practices by ensuring all contracts include performance measures and regularly monitoring the performance of entities delivering reintegration services.

Authoritative report — Queensland Audit Office

Report PDF on QAO