Workforce Overview
Correctional Services are an essential part of the criminal justice system. This workforce keeps the community safe and assists persons in custody to reintegrate into society.
The Correctional Services landscape is multifaceted as each state or territory governs their own Correctional Services program.
State and Territory Correctional Services include:
- adult custodial
- community corrections
- specialist services
Private prisons are managed by private industry.
Correctional Services is one of the three pillars of the criminal justice system that support and promote public safety in Australia. This industry-sector delivers custodial and community-based services aimed at rehabilitation and reducing reoffending to help keep communities safe.
The workforce spans a broad range of occupations, including frontline roles and supporting functions. This includes Correctional Officers (COs), who deliver custodial services in secure facilities, and Community Corrections Officers (CCOs), who supervise offenders serving non-custodial sentences or parole in the community. Community Corrections Officers typically engage in case management, risk assessment, and compliance monitoring. The broader workforce also includes public servants working inside and outside correctional environments across functions such as administration, education, policy, and intelligence
Workforce Megatrends
In 2024, Public Skills Australia identified nine megatrends impacting across the Public Safety and Government industries. A brief overview of the key findings from 2024 are detailed below
Identified Challenges
Workforce Lifecycle
Research and consultation identified challenges contributing to increased workforce challenges impacting across all stages of the Correctional Services workforce lifecycle, including:
- Attraction: attracting a workforce that reflects the needs of a contemporary corrections environment.
- Recruitment: modifying entry requirements to meet recruitment targets, with a targeted focus on the recruitment of First Nations employees.
- Onboarding: equipping employees for the complexities of the physical and psychological demands of a Correctional Services role through pre-service training.
- Retention: mitigating limitations on learning and development opportunities and effects of mental health impacts (resulting in increased psychological injury claims).
- Exit / Separation: building a deeper understanding as to why employees exit, exploring exit/separation data limitations and assessing whether varying processes across organisations may provide additional insights.
First Nations Workforce
High attrition and retention of First Nations employees is a challenge that is impacted by low participation rates of other employees in cultural awareness or competency training. Embedding cultural competency in organisations, with the objective of promoting cultural safety for First Nations employees, may see a positive impact on retention rates.
Strategy
Review of skills maintenance approaches throughout the workforce lifecycle
Explore existing skilling and professional development frameworks adopted by Correctional Services organisations, including non-accredited training, to identify opportunities for harmonisation of approaches.
Proposal to investigate barriers to First Nations participation in the Correctional Services workforce
Draft a proposal to gain industry support to examine the factors that limit the participation of First Nations people in the Correctional Services workforce, including the reasons for joining, attritional factors and motivation for remaining in the workforce.
The CSC Correctional Services Training Package summarises the national standards for training within the Correctional Services industry-sector.
The training package is delivered through enterprise and independent Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). Some Correctional Services jurisdictions also function as an RTO, allowing them to deliver the training as part of the CSC Correctional Services Training Package. This ensures that training for Corrections officers meets the agreed national standards.
As a Jobs and Skills Council, Public Skills Australia plays an important role in maintaining this training package. Click here to learn more about the CSC Correctional Services Training Package.
Existing Industry Strategies
Government Initiatives
References
CSC Training Package enrolment reference: National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Total VET students and courses 2022: DataBuilder [data set], ncver.edu.au, 2023, accessed 15 January 2024.
Existing workforce strategies
Australian Capital Territory Corrective Services, Corrections Management, Australian Capital Territory Corrective Services, Government of Australian Capital Territory, 2018.
Corrective Services NSW, Change Management Plan for Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW): Custody based Service Delivery Model Change, Corrective Services NSW, Government of New South Wales, 2023.
Corrective Services Tasmania, Changing Lives, Creating Futures: A Strategic Plan for Corrections in Tasmania 2023, Corrective Services Tasmania, Tasmanian Government, 2023.
Department for Correctional Services South Australia, Department for Correctional Services Strategic Plan 2022─2026, Department for Correctional Services South Australia, Government of South Australia, 2022.
Northern Territory Correctional Services, Strategic Plan 2023-2026, Northern Territory Correctional Services, Northern territory Government.
Queensland Corrective Services (QCS), QCS Strategic Plan 2023-2027, QCS, Queensland Government, 2023.
Victoria Corrections Prisons and Parole, Safety Corporate Plan 2023─2027, Victoria Corrections Prisons and Parole, Victoria State Government, 2023.
Disclaimer
This data have been collected through consultation with industry-sector representatives as part of the Workforce Plan 2024: Correctional Services. These figures represent a snapshot in time and are subject to change. Public Skills Australia Limited has made every effort to ensure that the information and data contained in this report are accurate, up to date and have been sourced appropriately. Our organisation will update these figures annually as part of its Workforce Planning function.
Correctional officers are also known as prison officers and custodial officers. Correctional officer has been used throughout this document as the preferred industry term and aligns to ANZSCO 442111. Community corrections officers are also known as probation officers, probation services officers, probation and parole officers, or parole officers. Community corrections officers has been used throughout this document as the preferred industry term and aligns to ANZSCO 411714.
Also note: The Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) does not currently delineate between supervisory or managerial roles for the Correctional Services workforce, and State/Territory annual reporting data rarely distinguishes between supervisory and non-supervisory staff. As such, data on this cohort is not currently available.