25 May 2005
MIXED RESULTS IN AUDITOR GENERAL’S REVIEW OF MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNITY BASED SENTENCES
Four years on from his 2001 examination of whether Community Based Sentences were delivering the correctional and rehabilitation outcomes sought, WA Auditor General Des Pearson has found that there has been a marked improvement in the case management of adult offenders.
However, the proportion of successfully completed Community Based Sentences has not changed, with more than 40% of offenders still failing to complete their orders.
In his follow-up performance examination Implementing and Managing Community Based Sentences, tabled in Parliament today, Mr Pearson notes that case management is now better resourced, better supported and monitored, and places public safety as its top priority.
Non-completion of Community Based Sentences (CBSs) has, however, remained static over the last six years, with about 40% of Community Based Orders and 50% of Intensive Supervision Orders not completed – these averages including rates of above 70% for some identifiable groups.
Of concern, too, was that recommendations regarding information and performance measurement systems were still under development and not completed, with the result that the Department of Justice had to a large extent been managing offenders since 2001 without improved information about internal processes or the impacts on offenders.
Until they are fully implemented at the end of 2005, or later if there are delays, the Department will be limited in measuring the effectiveness of its operations and outcomes, says Mr Pearson.
Mr Pearson has though counselled caution on the issue of completion rates: “Courts often issue Community Based Sentences, as a final chance of avoiding prison and modifying behaviour, to offenders at high risk of not completing them,” he said.
“Although higher completion rates are desirable, lower rates do not imply that case management is failing; at the end of the day the prime responsibility for doing community work, attending programs or reporting for supervision lies with the offenders themselves.
“Further, ‘successful completion’ refers only to fulfilling the terms of the order – a recorded completion does not guarantee that a person has not offended while the CBS was in force or is less likely to offend later.
“Hence, while it is important for the justice system as a whole to evaluate how well CBSs are achieving their intended outcomes in comparison with other sentencing options, it is inappropriate to judge the effectiveness of the Department solely on completion rates or recidivism.”
Also tabled today was Mr Pearson’s first Audit Results Report for the year, primarily detailing the results of financial statement, controls, and performance indicator audits at the WA’s public universities and TAFE colleges.
Clear audit opinions were issued for all universities, TAFE colleges and their subsidiaries, and all substantive issues identified during the audits were satisfactorily resolved.
However, a range of other matters not significant enough to warrant a qualification was noted, including the need to strengthen controls over computer access and security, payroll, purchasing and accounts payable, and corporate credit cards.
This report also detailed the results of 22 financial statement, controls, and performance indicator audits completed at public sector agencies since the Mr Pearson’s last Audit Results report in November 2004.
The audit opinion of one health service, the Minister for Health in his capacity as the Deemed Board of Metropolitan Public Hospitals, was again qualified due to inadequate controls over postal remittances relating to Special Purpose Accounts.
A Department of Health review panel is currently considering the legal and audit requirements, while addressing stakeholders’ concerns about mail opening and confidentiality.
Ends/.
Media Contact: Peter Villiers,
Manager Reporting and Communications
Tel: (08) 9222 7558. Mobile:
0417 936 171 Fax: (08) 9322 5664
4th Floor Dumas House 2 Havelock
Street West Perth
|
