Discussion and debate at June’s management conference.
The ideas flowed when the inaugural twoday management conference in June brought together 120 managers from around the country.
Manager Corporate Services Chris Thornborough says they gathered to set the agenda for Corrections’ work in the future.
“So much information came out of it. There were an extraordinary number of valuable ideas and insights,” he says.
“In a Department the size of Corrections, with more than 6,000 employees, it’s easy to become focused on your own particular area.
By bringing together managers from all our different services the conference helped to break down barriers, allowing people to see the bigger picture and the way things interrelate.”
Key themes in the discussion were rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders, non-custodial alternatives to prison sentences, and internal and external communications.
The Minister of Corrections, Hon Damien O'Connor was a keynote speaker and he outlined the Government’s expectations of the department and its managers. Chief Executive Barry Matthews gave the opening address.
Barry says the conference was very successful in achieving its goal.
“I wanted to draw upon the considerable collective wisdom and experience we have within Corrections to identify the issues we are facing and to come up with innovative and workable strategies on how we might best deal with these. We certainly did this.”
Ideas that came out of the conference will be fed into Corrections’ Statement of Intent and Strategic Business Plan.
“I see this first conference as the start of a regular process of engagement involving Correction’s whole leadership team,” says Barry.
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ISSN 1178-8453