Labor locks in five more years of privately run Adelaide Remand Centre
The State Government has extended its contract with the private operator of the Adelaide Remand Centre for another five years, one day after a report found privatisation of the correctional facility had “failed”.
The state government has extended its contract with private prison operator Serco to run the Adelaide Remand Centre (ARC) in the Adelaide CBD for another five years.
A government media release said: “Due to the terms negotiated by the former Liberal Marshall Government, renewing the contract was the only option available at this time without subjecting taxpayers to additional financial burden”.
Correctional Services Minister Michael Brown said there were “a number of serious challenges in trying to reverse the Liberal’s privatisation of the Adelaide Remand Centre”.
“In 2019, the then Marshall Liberal Government entered into a seven-year contract with a five-year renewal period that is difficult to unwind without incurring significant cost to taxpayers,” Brown said.
“I take the management of the Adelaide Remand Centre extremely seriously and I will continue to work closely with the Public Service Association, United Workers Union and Serco to ensure safety within the prison.”
Private company Serco has been running the centre since 2019, when the former Liberal Marshall government signed a $115 million, seven-year contract.
The ARC houses people arrested by police who have not yet been convicted or sentenced, and sits near Adelaide’s courthouses in Victoria Square. It is one of two SA correctional facilities privately operated, alongside Mount Gambier Prison, which is operated by G4S Custodial Services.
The decision comes one day after InDaily revealed a new report detailing dozens of incidents ranging from violence, drugs and an escape attempt at the city facility.
It raised significant concerns, finding the 2019 privatisation by the Marshall Liberal government of the Adelaide Remand Centre (ARC) on Currie Street in the Adelaide CBD has “failed”.
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The report sparked new calls for the state government to take back control of the facility the report says is plagued with violence, drugs and a high-profile escape attempt.
Written by progressive research centre The McKell Institute and commissioned by the Public Service Association (PSA), the report claims a litany of “systemic problems… undermine staff safety, staff wellbeing [and] accountability”.
“The privatisation of the Adelaide Remand Centre has failed to deliver its intended outcomes and must return to South Australian Government control,” the report found.
Today, PSA general secretary Charlotte Watson said she was “surprised” by the government’s decision to extend the contract.
“When Malinauskas was in opposition in 2020, he came out very strongly and said ‘When Liberals privatise a public service, the public pays the price’,” Watson told InDaily, referring to a social media post by Premier Peter Malinauskas, who was then Opposition Leader.
“We deserve more detail around exactly how it is that it would cost more.
“The problem is that it’s commercial in confidence, and that is a fundamental issue with it being privately run, which is the lack of transparency around it.
“It is in the public interest to be given some more detail around exactly how it is that it’s too costly to bring it back into public hands.”
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