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20140611 Prisoner Transport Prisoner Transportation Prisoner Transportation June 2014 June Victorian Auditor-General’s Report June 2014 2013–14:30 2013–14:30 Level 24 Telephone 61 3 8601 7000 35 Collins Street Facsimile 61 3 8601 7010 Melbourne Vic. 3000 www.audit.vic.gov.au V I C T O R I A Victorian Auditor-General Prisoner Transportation Ordered to be printed VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER June 2014 PP No 330, Session 2010–14 Photo attributions Image on page ix courtesy of Faith Gritten. Images on pages 6 and 12 and images of prisons on the map on page 2 courtesy of the Department of Justice. This report is printed on Monza Recycled paper. Monza Recycled is certified Carbon Neutral by The Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI) in accordance with the global Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO 14040 framework. The Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) for Monza Recycled is cradle to grave including Scopes 1, 2 and 3. It has FSC Mix Certification combined with 55% recycled content. ISBN 978 1 922044 85 3 The Hon. Bruce Atkinson MLC The Hon. Christine Fyffe MP President Speaker Legislative Council Legislative Assembly Parliament House Parliament House Melbourne Melbourne Dear Presiding Officers Under the provisions of section 16AB of the Audit Act 1994, I transmit my report on the audit Prisoner Transportation. The audit examined whether the transportation of prisoners in the criminal justice system is effective, efficient and economical. The main focus of the audit was on prisoner transport services managed by Corrections Victoria and used by Victoria Police and the Department of Human Services, as well as the transportation of prisoners by Victoria Police following formal charges being laid. I found several shortcomings with respect to these issues, the most significant being the absence of overarching and coordinated oversight of prisoner transportation. I also found inadequate collection of data regarding prisoner movements and transportation costs to support effective decision-making. Despite the existence of formalised procedures, I found that prisoners were not consistently being transported to court-located police cells on time, and that the risks associated with inadequately separating prisoners in transport vehicles had not been appropriately mitigated. I have made five recommendations aimed at improving decision-making and oversight of prisoner transportation, as well as enhancing service delivery outcomes. Yours faithfully John Doyle Auditor-General 11 June 2014 Victorian Auditor-General’s Report Prisoner Transportation iii Contents Auditor-General’s comments ..................................................................... vii Audit summary .......................................................................................... ix Conclusions ............................................................................................................. ix Findings ....................................................................................................................x Recommendations .................................................................................................. xii Submissions and comments received ................................................................... xiii 1. Background .......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Roles and responsibilities ............................................................................... 3 1.3 Prisoner transportation costs .......................................................................... 4 1.4 Prisoner transport services contract ................................................................ 4 1.5 Reasons for prisoner transportation ................................................................ 5 1.6 Legislation ....................................................................................................... 7 1.7 Audit objective and scope ............................................................................... 7 1.8 Audit method and cost .................................................................................... 7 1.9 Structure of the report ..................................................................................... 8 2. Prisoner transport system ..................................................................... 9 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 10 2.3 Costs associated with prisoner transport ...................................................... 10 2.4 Governance and risk management ............................................................... 15 2.5 Performance monitoring ................................................................................ 18 2.6 Future arrangements ..................................................................................... 23 3. Movement of prisoners ........................................................................ 27 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 28 3.2 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 28 3.3 Transporting prisoners to court ..................................................................... 28 3.4 Manual scheduling ........................................................................................ 32 3.5 Prisoner health and welfare .......................................................................... 33 3.6 Alternative models ......................................................................................... 39 Appendix A. Audit Act 1994 section 16—submissions and comments ...... 41 Victorian Auditor-General’s Report Prisoner Transportation v Auditor-General’s comments Prisoners are required to be moved throughout the criminal justice system for a variety of reasons. In Victoria there are over 58 000 movements per year. The growing number of prisoners in the justice system and changes to the external criminal justice environment affect the need to move prisoners. These movements present a logistical challenge to the state, with key considerations being prisoner health and welfare and the maintenance of public safety. In this audit I have looked at how effectively, efficiently and economically prisoners have been transported throughout Victoria’s criminal justice system. I am currently limited in my powers to audit the performance of service providers directly. As a result, I have focused on the roles and responsibilities of Corrections Victoria and Victoria Police and their oversight of the outsourced prisoner transport services to identify the John Doyle extent to which service delivery is effective, efficient and economical. Auditor-General The audit found a lack of overarching and coordinated oversight of prisoner transportation across the justice system. This is an issue reflected in other audits undertaken by my office. For instance, a review of 200 reports tabled by VAGO between 2006 and 2012 found joined-up arrangements between agencies were often not coordinated sufficiently and that, while there was some degree of coordination, it was clearly inadequate, with only infrequent, high-level contact and insufficient collaboration. This audit identified limitations with governance and risk management processes. While these exist for discrete elements of prisoner transportation, they do not cover the full movement of prisoners within the justice system, and operate in isolation from each Audit team other. Given that prisoner transportation is affected by issues outside the direct control Michele Lonsdale of those responsible for moving prisoners, effectively managing prisoner transport will Sector Director require collaboration across the criminal justice system. Sally-Anne Pitt I also found that neither Corrections Victoria nor Victoria Police collects information Team Leader about the total number and cost of prisoner movements across the justice system. This reduces agencies’ ability to make sound decisions regarding the adequacy and Aina Anisimova appropriateness of current arrangements. Analyst Positive initiatives being implemented in other parts of the justice system, such as the Chris Sheard use of video-conferencing for court appearances, have the potential to reduce Engagement Quality transportation demands and should be considered in the planning of future prisoner Control Reviewer transport arrangements. However, opportunities exist to improve service delivery outcomes by ensuring that procedures for supporting the safe transport—and specifically the appropriate separation—and timely delivery of prisoners are working effectively. Victorian Auditor-General’s Report Prisoner Transportation vii Auditor-General’s comments The report contains five recommendations which, if implemented, will help improve the information available for decision-making, the overall governance of prisoner transportation, and service delivery outcomes under outsourced arrangements. I intend to revisit the issues identified in this report to ensure these are being appropriately addressed. I also want to thank the staff in the Department of Justice and Victoria Police who assisted with this audit for their constructive engagement with the audit
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