The Revolving Door of Australian Prisons

We write often here about the soaring recidivism rates in the U.S. and our lack of effective alternatives to incarceration. But we aren’t the only country dealing with this problem.

New statistics from Australia suggest that aside from all of the wombats running around down there, perhaps the country isn't all that different. Almost 60% of people in Australian prisons have been there before, and observers say the country is missing important opportunities to offer rehabilitation, education, drug and alcohol treatment and other programs known to reduce recidivism.

Brett Collins, a criminal justice reform advocate, told ABC news that while prisons may be attractive politically in Australia, they aren’t working. Sound familiar?

"You can't exclude offenders, you have to deal with them,” Collins said. “All you do by locking people up is allow problems to fester and you allow this cross-contamination of individuals who reinforce each others' behavior.”

While the U.S. and Australia may both struggle with recidivism, however, America still takes the cake for the scale of its screwed-up system.

Counting the number of prisoners who have been incarcerated before isn’t the same as measuring the recidivism rate. While 60% of Australian prisoners are on return trips, the chance that an average Australian prisoner will go back in after release is closer to 40%. That number pales next to the atrocious American rate: 70% of our prisoners will be back within three years.

Sentencing is more sane is Australia as well, so while prisons may have revolving doors, they aren’t as crowded as their American counterparts. Australia incarcerates about one citizen of every 1,000, putting it on par with Europe and Canada. Our incarceration rate in the U.S. is seven times that of Australia and many developed countries.

Revolving doors are a common problem, but America's vast prison problem outdoes all others.

Photo Credit: Dan4th