$35 million in funding towards justice
According to Flinders University, nearly half of the 67,000 people released from prison each year return within two years, and the national correctional budget is projected to exceed $7 billion by 2030.
Therefore, to address the social and economic burden, $35 million in funding will be allocated to establish a Centre of Excellence for Prisoner Reintegration (CEPR) to reduce reincarceration across Australia. Led by CSI Flinders University and supported by 41 global partners contributing $70 million in total value, the Centre will work across 32 correctional sites and 16 communities.
CEPR will, for the first time, unite leading international expertise to transform how prisoner reintegration is understood and tackled in Australia to reduce recidivism, advancing social cohesion and community wellbeing.
The CEPR will also join forces with First Nation organisations to break the cycle of reincarceration in Indigenous communities, prioritising culturally responsive frameworks that embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worldviews, lore, and cultures.
CEPR will focus on five key groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, those on short custodial stays of six months or less, first-time prisoners with a focus on young people aged 18 to 25 years, those with 10 or more incarceration episodes, and people whose offending is directly attributable to drug and/or alcohol dependence.
