Ravenhall Correctional Centre:
World-Leading Continuum of Care
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Opening in late 2017, Ravenhall Correctional Centre redefines the role of the modern prison. Through providing Better Corrections, Ravenhall contributes to Safer Victorian Communities.
Through delivery of world-leading Continuum of Care services, prisoners are guided and supported in breaking free from their cycle of reoffending. New models for the management of prisoners coupled with unprecedented levels of pre and post-release support help identify and tackle the causes of crime. Through investment in opportunities for prisoners to engage in work, education and programs, prisoners are not only held safely and securely but given every chance to turn their lives around. Issues behind much of the crime in our communities – such as violent attitudes, anti-social behaviours and the abuse of drugs and alcohol – are addressed through innovative programs and interventions. At the same time helping ex-prisoners with day-to-day challenges such as gaining and holding down honest employment and finding a suitable place to live also help prevent a return to crime. To bring about this step-change in modern correctional management Ravenhall brings together a number of Victoria’s most respected voluntary organisations in a unique Alliance. The YMCA, Melbourne City Mission and Kangan Institute work with the prison’s operator – GEO – to bring about lasting positive change in the lives of prisoners and ex-prisoners. Through these partnerships the objective of Safer Victorian Communities is achieved.  Ravenhall Prison will initially hold 1,000 adult male prisoners, with the capacity to accommodate up to 1,300 prisoners, to meet potential future demand. Key features of Ravenhall Prison include a 75-bed Forensic Mental Health Unit, and a 25-bed Close Supervision Unit, allowing for the safe and effective management of prisoners with mental health disorders and challenging and complex behaviours.
In an Australian-first, Ravenhall Prison introduces a payment-by-results model, based on a reduction in reoffending rates. GEO is part of the GEO Consortium, awarded the contract in September 2014 to Design, Build, Finance and Manage Ravenhall Prison. Construction of Ravenhall Prison commenced in early 2015. The GEO Group Australia - Ravenhall Prison Video
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General Manager's Welcome
Ravenhall Correctional Centre is Victoria’s newest correctional facility and represents a step-change in contemporary correctional practice.
Offering unprecedented levels of pre- and post-release services, Ravenhall is unique in that it offers services and support to its prisoners after their release. This is achieved through Ravenhall’s alliance of community partners and its unique Bridge Centre in Melbourne for ex-offenders. We call this approach the GEO Continuum of Care, and Ravenhall was designed from the ground up to deliver it. Ravenhall boasts the widest range of rehabilitation and reintegration programs of any correctional facility – including a unique suite of interventions for prisoners on remand. Ravenhall is also the first Australian correctional centre to track and measure the impact it is making on reducing re-offending amongst the prisoners it releases. Trevor Craig, Ravenhall Correctional Centre General Manager 
Partner
Ravenhall’s partnership with the YMCA, Melbourne City Mission, Kangan Institute and The Gathering Place to form the Ravenhall Alliance ushers in a new model for the pre and post-release reintegration of prisoners. Through targeted, tangible assistance with day-to-day issues such as employment and housing – issues that if left unresolved can often cause the ex-prisoner to slip back into offending – the Ravenhall Alliance plays a critical part in achieving the prison’s objective to help create Safer Victorian Communities. Lead Ravenhall’s programs and interventions are new and innovative, and targeted a prisoner groups at particular risk of reoffending. Prisoner groups such as younger prisoners, prisoners with mental health disorders, and prisoners with histories of challenging – often violent – behaviours are housed in specialised units and benefit from specialised treatments that are world-leading. This investment in robustly tackling offending during the sentence reduces the likelihood of future crimes occurring, whilst also reducing future financial and social costs on the Victorian community. Deliver Ravenhall provides 1,000 beds, capacity Victoria needs to maintain its highly effective correctional system. Delivered through an innovative and cost effective design that balances the need for safe and secure custody whilst providing rehabilitative activities and opportunities for selected prisoners to practice self-management, Ravenhall delivers to Victorians a truly world-class correctional facility. Measure Ravenhall’s payment-by-result system ensures the highest levels of accountability to the Victorian taxpayer. Rewarded on the basis of a measure of reoffending amongst prisoners released from the prison the payment-by-results system means the prison remains focussed on the objective of Safer Victorian Communities and continually seeks new ways to reduce the risk of future crimes occurring. Respond Ravenhall’s unique services, interventions and programs respond to the needs of a range of prisoner groups. Overcoming Indigenous disadvantage by responding to the challenges faced by Indigenous ex-prisoners is a particular area of focus, as is meeting the challenge offered by prisoners serving shorter sentences. With little time to address often deep-seated needs Ravenhall responds through high intensity programs and community-based services so that progress made during the sentence can be continued and built upon. |