What factors, if any, contributed to the estimated actual percentage of people entitled to receive an offender plan within Standards of Practice timeframes being 70–80 percent in 2025/26, compared with the Budget Standard target of at least 85 percent, as shown in Vote Corrections 2026/27?

Answer

I am advised that, in the 2025/26 year to March 2026, case managers and probation officers prepared 28,228 offender plans compared with 27,629 for the same period in 2024/25. Of these, 74 percent were completed within Standards of Practice timeframes, which is consistent with the same period last year. Overall, aggregate timeliness has been marginally declining in recent years. Timeliness for prison-based plans decreased by 15 percentage points, from 73 percent year to date to March 2025 to 58 percent year to date to March 2026. Timeliness for community-based plans improved by 5 percentage points over the same period, from 76 percent to 81 percent. I am further advised that the reduction in prison-based timeliness reflects a range of operational pressures across the prison network including fluctuations in caseload pressures, workload demand and vacancies for case manager roles. Corrections is taking steps to improve performance, including offering targeted training and support to new staff, continuing to focus on recruitment to maintain workforce capacity and increasing performance monitoring and operational oversight. Work is also underway to improve efficiency and effectiveness across both prison and community settings. In addition, Corrections is reviewing its probation and case management workflow tools to ensure the tools remain fit-for-purpose and reflect current operational demands within the corrections system.