Audit Office findings today prove the State Labor Government has no commitment to tackling the crippling levels of sick leave in NSW prisons, according to the State Opposition.
“Prison sick leave costs have blown out to $13 million in just four years as the State Government has made no effective effort to bring it under control,” Shadow Minister for Justice Andrew Humpherson said today.
“Prison sick leave is over 60% higher than the Public Service average at a staggering 12 days a year per employee," he said.
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“The hidden impact of this is on skyrocketing overtime bills which have cost taxpayers $101 million over the past four years.
“NSW prisons under the Labor Party are the most expensive and ineffective in the country.
“It costs more to keep a prisoner in a NSW jail than in any other State and they are more likely to re-offend when released.
“NSW prisons are bloated, wasteful and poorly managed.
“They are the HIH of the State government.
“The solution is to change the culture of mismanagement and waste by replacing a number of senior staff and injecting some discipline and direction into the system.
“The State Labor Government has paid lip service to the 2002 Audit Office recommendations and, despite monitoring and data collection, has not pushed for improvements.
“The Department of Corrective Services has shown its lack of commitment in this area by failing to report any progress or data in its annual reports.
“The number of sick days in the prison system soared since the Audit Office highlighted the problem in 2002 from 47,802 days per year to 69,388 days last year.
“Not only is this cost unsustainable but impacts on huge overtime budget blowouts and prevents inmates from attending education and rehabilitation programs which would help them avoid re-offending.
“Major surgery is required to the management of the NSW prison system to bring sick leave and overtime down to reasonable levels,” Mr Humpherson concluded.
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