
20 July 2023
The Unsustainable Cost Of Incarceration Revealed As Prisons Reach Breaking Point
“With Australia’s prison system at breaking point, we need to shift our focus to crime prevention, ensuring violent offenders are sentenced for longer, and giving non-violent offenders the opportunity to get into work” said Mia Schlicht, Research Analyst at the Institute of Public Affairs. Today, the Institute of Public Affairs released new research, The Cost of Prisons in Australia: 2023,

11 October 2019
Improve Private Prison Contracts To Cut Costs And Reduce Reoffending
“Stronger incentives for rehabilitation can improve private prisons and lead to reduced reoffending, less crime, and lower costs for taxpayers,” said Andrew Bushnell, Research Fellow at the free market think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs. The IPA today released a new research report on private prisons in Australia. Eight of Australia’s 98 prisons are operated by private companies. These

5 September 2019
Why Western Australia Needs Criminal Justice Reform
Criminal justice reform is a combination of measures designed to arrest and reverse the rise of incarceration, reduce reoffending and crime, guarantee community safety, and save taxpayers money. This is an ambitious agenda but experience from the United States shows that it is possible—and for Western Australia, increasingly vital. Download the report here

8 August 2017
The Expensive Problem With Our Prisons: Why Spending More Doesn’t Make Us Feel Safer
Australia spends more on criminal justice than most other developed countries, but gets worse results. In world terms, we spend a lot on prisons and police but despite this, Australians consistently report feeling less safe than people in similar countries. These are the findings of the latest report for the Institute of Public Affairs Criminal Justice Project, and they underline the

8 August 2017
Australia’s Criminal Justice Costs: An International Comparison
Incarceration in Australia is growing rapidly. The 2016 adult incarceration rate was 208 per 100,000 adults, up 28 percent from 2006. There are now more than 36,000 prisoners, up 39 percent from a decade ago. The Institute of Public Affairs Criminal Justice Project has investigated the causes of this increase and policy ideas for rationalising the use of prisons in

8 August 2017
IPA Research Finds Australia Falling Behind World On Criminal Justice Costs And Results
“Australians are spending more on criminal justice and getting worse results than most comparable countries, underlining the need for criminal justice reform across the country,” said Andrew Bushnell, Research Fellow at the free market think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs. Today the IPA released a new report Australia’s Criminal Justice Costs: An International Comparison. Authored by Research Fellow Andrew