KEY POINTS:
A team to investigate internal corruption is part of a major overhaul announced by the Corrections Department yesterday.
The new structure will also help in the primary goal of helping prisoners back into the community.
Chief executive Barry Matthews said the human resources department would be beefed up to ensure staff received more adequate training.
He hoped the changes would prevent the recurrence of prisoners being paroled without the probation service being told.
"The new structure will ensure that Corrections is appropriately positioned and structured to meet the demands which will be faced by the department over the medium and long term," he said.
The new structure will be fully implemented by July.
The internal investigation team, to be based at head office, results from a number of corruption claims during which the department was under intense attack from political parties. The team is designed to act swiftly.
Senior positions are also in line for a shake-up, with the creation of several new support groups at head office.
About 10 staff may lose their jobs.
Mr Matthews said the delivery of services for offenders would be reduced from four distinct streams to two.
The services delivered by Psychological Services, programme delivery and the work of probation staff will be combined into a new entity - Community Probation and Psychological Services (CPPS).
CPPS would be co-ordinated at a regional level so there would be greater co-ordination with the department's other service delivery arm, Prison Services.
Mr Matthews said the new positions of general manager (organisational development) and general manager (business information and planning) were being advertised externally and would bring fresh perspectives to the senior management team.
"The clarity provided by the new structure will also result in very clear accountabilities for senior managers in terms of the services provided."
