Prisons, the private sector and the market: Some Queensland lessons

Queensland has two prisons run by private companies; the first contract was signed in 1989. In 1995 a competitive tender for a new prison was won by t he QCSC against two private providers. Further there is now a belief that p risons should be run on commercial grounds. The principal agency, the Queen sland Corrective Services Commission (QCSC) has been divided into two bodie s - a purchaser and a provider - to allow markets to prevail in Queensland corrective services. What can be learnt from these developments? This artic le will, first, provide a brief history of the changes; second, it will exp lore whether the initial objectives for the introduction of the private sec tor into the corrective system have been met; and third it will ask whether market forces can or should be a dominant feature and hence whether a corr ective services system can or should be organised on a commercial basis.