Andrew Beck, Director, Acacia Prison, Australia
Acacia Prison, with 900 prisoners, is the largest and only privately managed prison in the state of Western Australia. Andrew Beck (pictured above) joined Serco to run Acacia in late 2007. Before this, he was Acting Deputy Commissioner of Adult Custodial Services and responsible for all prisons across Western Australia. His career in the custodial sector began when he left the Royal Marines to join the UK Prison Service, rising to become Governor of Nottingham prison.
As Director, my job is to provide leadership and strategic direction to the organisation. We have had some great successes. For instance, we received a very positive report from the Prisons Inspector in 2008, who remarked that the prison was contributing positively to justice policy and administration in the state.
Understanding the unique needs of our Indigenous people is critical, as 35% of the Acacia prison population is Indigenous. In fact, of the approximately 4,300 prisoners in the Western Australia prison system, over 40% are Indigenous Australians. The causes of this are complex and varied but much can be attributed to the consequences of isolation, drug or alcohol addictions, lack of access to services and social deprivation. They have completely different cultural and belief systems so we’ve put in place a management structure that recognises their needs. For example, we have an advisory board made up of prominent Indigenous community leaders, who offer guidance about how to shape relevant services.
I guess the main priority for me is to run the best prison possible with the resources we have. If I were to run a public prison, that wouldn’t change. But the difference here is that I’m unlocked from the government machinery that can inhibit innovation, so I can do things I couldn’t in the public sector. And I can deliver more out of the resources we have. For example, I have full control and accountability for the prison budget, which means I can react to changing demands by allocating resources accordingly.
In terms of innovation, we adopted a culture development programme for the prison, using the Human Synergistic cultural measurement model. We used consultants to measure the culture of the prison, and to also identify the desired culture. We then applied a number of strategies to engage staff and help them understand the behaviour we expect to create the desired culture for the prison. This suite of tools had never been applied in a custodial setting before.
One of the outcomes of this was the introduction of the Acacia Leader’s Programme, where we took 16 members of staff who showed potential and put them through a ten-month management course.
I’m also able to recruit the people I need much more quickly. While I follow best practice models, I do not have a lengthy approval process to contend with.
There’s a big debate about the private operation of prisons in Australia, which puts the spotlight on us, of course. So one of the key challenges for me is to maintain a focus on delivery of operations, while at the same time managing all the different stakeholder relationships we have, both within the state and externally.
