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Corrections Victoria

Corrections Victoria operates Victoria's adult corrections system, including prisons and Community Correctional Services. It ensures prisoners are safely and securely contained and aims to rehabilitate offenders by addressing the underlying causes of offending behaviour. Victoria's juvenile corrections system is managed by the Victorian Department of Human Services.

A Department of Justice service agency headed by the Corrections Commissioner, Corrections Victoria manages more than 50 Community Correctional Services locations and 13 prisons and one transitional centre across Victoria, including two privately-operated prisons.

Corrections Victoria’s vision is 'Confidence in Corrections' and its purpose is to enhance public safety and crime reduction through the effective administration of prison sentences and the enforcement of community supervision orders. It does this through its offender management practices, actively engaging with offenders and the community to promote positive behavioural change and address social disadvantage.

Corrections Victoria was established in 2003 when the Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner merged with CORE - The Public Correctional Enterprise. As a single agency, Corrections Victoria encourages more cooperation between services, bringing together all the roles performed by the previous organisations. These include:

• strategic and policy functions such as planning and research, program development, and policy and service development
• statewide services such as sentence management, central records and the Adult Parole Board
• operational functions such as operating prisons.

The decision to merge grew out of a 2000 study into how Victoria's private prisons were managed. Commissioned by the then Minister for Corrections and chaired by Mr Peter Kirby, this study made 54 recommendations aimed at streamlining the delivery of correctional services, improving the effectiveness of correctional programs and promoting greater cohesiveness across the Victorian corrections system. This report laid the foundations for Corrections Victoria.