This month, the South Australian government extended a contract with a private firm to manage a men’s prison in Adelaide for another five years, despite a damning report about its operations.

The report from the McKell Institute – a non-profit, progressive Australian public policy think tank – concluded the private operation of the Adelaide Remand Centre had been a failure.

It found understaffing had created a volatile environment that put staff and inmates at risk. It also cited security breaches and higher costs per inmate compared to publicly run prisons.

The report prompted the head of the Public Service Association to implore the state Labor government not to extend the contract with Serco, a multinational security and justice system management firm.

But Corrections Minister Michael Brown ignored that plea, causing the head of the Community and Public Sector Union, Stewart Little, to say Premier Peter Malinauskas would have “blood on his hands for this decision”.

The controversy renews the focus on private prisons in Australia.

In 2025, eight of the 114 custodial facilities in Australia were privately operated, making up 16.5% of the prisoner population. This is down from 19% a decade earlier when it was the highest percentage among advanced economies worldwide.

A history of privatisation

While many countries allow the privatisation of correctional institutions, they are principally found in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.

Let’s look at the history and trajectory of this in Australia.

In January 1990, Queensland’s Borallon Correctional Centre........

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