Major building work | Capital Works

There has been pronounced growth in South Australia’s prison population over the past ten years.

The increase can be attributed to factors such as policy shifts and legislative amendments.  A focus on domestic violence in recent years has had a profound impact on male prisoner numbers, and in particular the male remand population.

This growth in prisoner numbers has been met as it has occurred by a Government commitment of over $290 million to enable DCS to bring online sufficient capacity to appropriately accommodate all prisoners.

Between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2017, 1043 new beds have been commissioned across the prison system, with a further 308 to become operational by 30 June 2019.

While prison is an important and necessary response to criminal offences, DCS is exploring strategies to reduce the impact of high reoffending rates and rising prisoner numbers. This includes strategies, to contribute to achieving the Government’s target of reducing re-offending by 10% by 2020.

This activity has been, and will continue to be, an important part of the capacity construction activity undertaken by the department.

Recent and current works include:

LocationWork
Mobilong Prison 72 beds — operational June 2018
 Security System Upgrade
Port Augusta Prison128 beds — Beds operational March 2019
Mount Gambier Prison160 beds — Beds operational March 2019
Adelaide Women's Prison40 beds — Beds operational March 2020
Adelaide Remand CentreSecurity System Upgrade
Other prisoner accommodation42 beds — Beds operational September 2017
  

Details of the departments expenditure is published in the State Budget papers - Paper 4: Agency Statements - Volume One