Weller, Patrick <br/><br/>
Prisons, the private sector and the market :  some queensland lessons 

 - Oxford :  Blackwell Publishers Limited,  December 1998 
<br/><br/> Queensland has two prisons run by private companies;the first contract was signed in 1989. In 1995 a competitive tender for a new prison was won by the QCSC against two private providers. Further, there is now a belief that prisons should be run on commercial grounds. The principal agency, the Queensland Corrective Services Commission (QCSC) has been divided into two bodies - a purchaser and a provider - to allow markets to prevail in Queensland corrective services. What can be learn from these developments? This article will, first, provide a brief history of the change;second, it will explore whether the initial objectives for the introduction of the private sector into the corrective system have been met; and third it will ask wheter market forces can or should be dominant feature and hence whether a corrective services system can or should be organised on a commercial basis