Community Engagement
Community engagement is extremely important to the Department. Almost all our operations touch the community at some level: with correctional centres boosting local employment; community reparation providing unpaid work; partnerships with remote communities maximising the use of resources in these areas; and the Community Funding Programs assisting the integration of released offenders.
Correctional Centres
The Department undertakes major community consultation before building a new correctional centre. Our early dialogue with commercial and residential groups and individuals allows communities to 'own' the development project and appreciate its benefits. For example, the Mid-North Coast Correctional Centre employs around 200 staff and injects approximately $10 million in salaries annually into the local economy.
Each correctional centre in New South Wales has a Community Consultative Committee. The department is committed to maintaining Correctional Centre Community Consultative Committees, and developing cross government and community agency partnerships to build mutually beneficial alliances with local communities.
The Correctional Centre Community Consultative Committees aim to:
- assist in the development and maintenance of a positive relationship with the local community;
- provide a forum for local community consultation and comment on correctional programs and procedures;
- facilitate the involvement of the local community in correctional centres programs;
- provide a mechanism to identify appropriate programs in which the correctional centre can participate and assist in the local community; and
- assist in the establishment of worthwhile community partnerships.
Reparation to the community
Performing community service plays an important part in reconnecting offenders with the community and giving them a sense of self-worth. The Department runs Mobile Outreach Camps for minimum security inmates, contributing towards the cost of their incarceration. In addition, offenders sentenced to Community Service Orders perform over $12 million worth of unpaid community work annually.
Partnerships with remote communities
In rural and regional NSW, the Department developed strategic relationships across the community to meet the employment and accommodation needs of offenders being released from custody. This collaboration maximises the use of limited resources in an isolated rural area. For example, Dillwynia Correctional Centre developed community partnerships to assist with the needs of women released from custody. In Broken Hill, custodial and community services have extensive joint activities with Centrelink, Wesley United and other local agencies.
Community Funding Programs
The Department's Community Funding Program allocates funding to a number of community-based non-profit organisations that play a key role in the Department's Throughcare Strategy. These organisations provide a range of support services both in custody and in the community to offenders and their families. For example, they assist offenders to maximise post-release opportunities such as offering short-term supported accommodation, linking offenders in with specialist community services (eg. mental health services, drug and alcohol services) and supporting families to maintain relationships.