Justice Reform Initiative calls for end to new Tasmanian prison

JRI is advocating for the government to instead investigate alternatives to prison, including court, police and post-release programs designed to divert offenders and potential offenders away from crime.

The state's prison population has grown by 36 per cent since 2011 and the cost of incarceration is rising - the government spent $117 million on adult and youth incarceration in 2021-2022.

It is planning to spend $270 million developing the proposed Northern correctional facility, despite "overwhelming evidence" that the current prison system is failing to deter crime, according to the JRI.

JRI is calling on the Tasmanian Government to instead establish a $270 million fund to boost and evaluate community-led organisations and projects aimed at breaking the cycle of incarceration and recidivism.

Chairman of the JRI, former Labor MP Robert Tickner, said the evidence showed that justice policies focussed heavily on incarceration and punishment had been discredited.

"It's discredited because it's genuinely on the evidence completely failing to turn lives around," he said in comments to ABC Radio.

"There are so many people in prison with an alcohol or drug dependency who just don't get an opportunity to turn that around while they are in prison.

"Our proposing is that if you invest in the alternatives to imprisonment, that will address those underlying issues that get people into trouble in the first place.

"You're going to have an even safer Tasmania, but you're going to have some much more productive people in the community, people who are able to rebuild their lives and not go through a damaged experience in prison."

Releasing the report a day before a hearing of the Legislative Council's inquiry into adult imprisonment and youth detention matters, executive director of the JRI, Dr Mindy Sotiri, said building new prisons was a costly and ineffective response to both crime and rising prison numbers.

"The report shows very clearly that incarceration not only fails to reduce crime and address the drivers behind it, but increases the likelihood of reoffending," she said.

"Building an enormous prison will only serve to fill more prison beds, leaving Tasmania with a more harmful and expensive system that is ultimately failing to make the community safer."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: