A review of the evidence shows that prison is costly, has negligible or negative effects on re-offending and, in the case of young people, may inflict long-term damage, thereby squandering the opportunity for rehabilitation and diversion that is presented with young people.[1]
Prison is costly
The cost of new prison infrastructure and expansion of prisons to accommodate an increasing prison population within Victoria is in the hundreds of million of dollars. The 2013–2014 Victorian State Budget committed an extra $131.5 million on top of the $819 million prison funding announced last year to extending the prison system. Despite these budget commitments, it is predicted that Victoria’s prison system will still fall 1,400 beds short of the required capacity by 2016.[2]