Availability of suitable housing is often a problem for offenders in the criminal justice system. The Justice Housing Program (JHP) will provide:
- accommodation options for a limited number of alleged offenders in order that they are not denied bail because they don’t have an address to go to; and
- accommodation options for Women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people involved with the criminal justice system, with a focus on trauma-informed, gender-informed and culturally safe practices.
The JHP is a core element of the ACT Government’s Building Communities Not Prisons initiative, which seeks to address the recognised lack of available and affordable housing for people released from custody.
As part of a broader suite of initiatives to reduce demand on the Alexander Maconochie Centre, the JHP will facilitate the delivery of supported housing programs to meet the diverse needs of people involved in the criminal justice system. This contributes to the ACT government’s goal to reduce recidivism by 25% by 2025.