Conclusion

Analysis of specific features of home detention programs across Australian states and territories and New Zealand has been based on review of legislation and policy and procedures documentation. These comparisons show there is variation in some areas, but that generally all jurisdictions show those good practice features identified in the international research and practice literature as contributing to successful outcomes for home detention and electronic monitoring programs. Also, while in some cases there may appear to be a unique feature set out in one jurisdiction's program documentation (eg, a specific mandate for caseworkers to provide support to co-residents), discussion with program managers indicates that this is applied in practice in other jurisdictions, even though policy and procedural documentation may not make it explicit.

Arguably, home detention programs are distinguished less by significant differences in key areas of operation (such as broad assessment, case management, and breach processes) than by different "strategic" approaches established in legislation that determine the scope and application of such programs.

The analysis provided in this report has not uncovered any obvious program element that in and of itself explains variation in performance across jurisdictions. However, it has been beyond the scope of this study to conduct the sort of in-depth analysis of combinations of program features together with potential differences in detainee population characteristics (particularly risk levels) that might underlie differences in program outcome.