Serco wins extension to Australian immigration contract

23rd Dec 2013 07:15

- Secures six-month contract extension with Australian government- Maintained a consistently high performance in 2013Government contractor Serco said it has secured a six-month extension to its contract with the Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) for the provision of detention services on mainland Australia and Christmas Island."The DIBP contracts are our largest operation in the group, employing more than 3,000 people across Australia. The current level of revenue is also the largest within the group as a result of the growth in the number of people in our care since the contract began," it said in a company update.The outsourcing giant said activity in these contracts is likely to fluctuate depending on a number of factors, including those which affect how many people are received into Australian immigration detention, and the length of time that they remain there."We maintained a consistently high performance in 2013 against the contract Key Performance Indicators, averaging over 99% compliance," it said.The year has also been one, which was roiled in scandal. The firm was recently found to have overcharged the UK government for the electronic tagging of criminals. Serco said last week that it would pay back £69m to the government.Serco is also under investigation for allegedly falsifying records on a multi-million pound deal to run UK prison vans. Also, in December the group confirmed that it was ending a contract to run out-of-hours GP services in England after the group was accused of falsifying figures in order to meet performance targets. CJ