No evidence was found in the research and practice literature review for greater effectiveness of front-end or back-end programs. Type of program (whether court of corrective services imposed) was explicitly mentioned as unrelated to program completion or recidivism in one UK evaluation.
Comparison:
The table below shows that jurisdictions vary in whether front-end, back-end or both options were available during the period covered by this study. NSW, NT and up to September 2005 the ACT, operate only front-end HD programs. Queensland operates only a back-end (post-prison) option. Victoria, SA and NZ operate both a back-end and front-end scheme. HD is available for unsentenced offenders in SA and, up to September 2005, in the ACT.
One jurisdiction (Victoria) has only been operating an HD program for a short period of time. Two jurisdictions (NSW and Victoria) operate in limited areas of their states only.
Authority for determining the making of a HD order and its conditions varies both for front-end home detention (generally the decision of the sentencing court, although in NZ the court’s decision-making role is limited to granting permission to apply for an order to the Parole Board) and for back-end programs. In the latter case, this is generally the responsibility of Parole Boards or their equivalent, except in SA where the Act empowers the Corrective Services Chief Executive Officer to make orders, set conditions, and revoke orders.
|
front-end |
back-end |
unsentenced offenders |
|
|
NSW |
commenced in Feb 1997; (previous Intensive Community Supervision pilot 1992-1996); operating in Sydney, Newcastle and Illawarra regions only |
not applicable 1 |
not applicable |
|
Vic 2 |
commenced in Jan 2004; operating in Melbourne metropolitan area only; 3-year pilot program |
commenced in Jan 2004; operating in metropolitan area only; 3-year pilot program |
not applicable |
|
Qld |
not applicable |
commenced in 1987 3 ; (EM trial Oct 2000–Dec 2002); operating state-wide |
not applicable |
|
SA |
commenced in 2000; (state-wide expansion 2000- 01); operating state-wide |
commenced in Dec 1986 (metro & 1 region); (state-wide expansion 2000-01); operating state-wide |
commenced in Jan 1987; operating state-wide |
|
ACT |
commenced in Sept 2001; operated territory-wide; operation in Sept. 2005 |
not applicable |
commenced in Sept 2003; operated territorywide pilot program ceasing operation in Sept. 2005 |
|
NT |
commenced in Feb 1988; operating territory-wide |
not applicable |
not applicable |
|
NZ |
commenced in Oct 1999; (2-year Intensive Supervision Order pilot scheme 1995-97); operating country-wide |
commenced in Oct 1999; (2-year pilot scheme 1995- 97); operating country-wide |
not applicable |
|
front-end |
back-end |
|
|
NSW |
court 4 |
not applicable |
|
Vic |
court |
Parole Board |
|
Qld |
not applicable |
Community Corrections Board |
|
SA |
court |
Chief Executive Officer (delegated to Manager Assessment) under advice from the Prisoner Assessment Committee 5 |
|
ACT |
court |
not applicable |
|
NT |
court |
not applicable |
|
NZ |
Parole Board following court granting prisoner leave to apply |
Parole Board |
1 No formal back-end HD program operates in NSW; however, in addition to home detention orders being made directly by the court, offenders with Periodic Detention Orders that have been revoked by the Parole Board with less than 18 months to serve may, at the direction of the Board, serve the sentence term on home detention.
2 Vic: the Corrections and Sentencing Acts (Home Detention) Act 2003 was amended on 1 October 2006 to allow the home detention program which had previously been operated as a pilot program, to continue indefinitely from 1 January 2007.
3 Qld: the HD program in Queensland ceased operation in August 2006.
4 NSW: or Parole Board in cases of HD following Periodic Detention order revocation.
5 SA: the Manager, Assessment may determine applications without input from the Prisoner Assessment Committee although in practice this is limited to prisoners with 3 months or less left to serve.
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