Queensland prisoners eligible for parole are struggling to find suitable accommodation so some are spending up to two years longer than they need to in jail, each costing taxpayers $70,000 a year.
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The state's prison population has swollen by a record 23 per cent - or 1268 prisoners – in the period starting shortly after the LNP won government.
There are now 6898 prisoners in the state, compared with 5600 in June 2012.
It costs $70,000 a year to keep a prisoner in a Queensland prison, according to figures from corrective services.
And Queensland is the only state that does not set aside accommodation for prisoners when they are released, according to the Catholic Prisons Ministry.
Dave Martin, a co-ordinator at the ministry which is a welfare agency providing housing and work for released prisoners, said many former inmates were remaining in prison because the parole board would not sign off on their proposed accommodation.
“One guy we got recently, he did an extra 13 months because we couldn't get him a suitable address,” Mr Martin said.
"We've got other guys who have done a couple of years extra because they can't come up with an address which is assessed by the Probation and Parole Board as being suitable."
He said it would be more affordable for the Queensland Government to provide some low cost units for prisoners.
The average rent of a single bedroom apartment in a Brisbane suburb is $14,800 a year, or in the CBD $21,828 a year, according to a cost of living guide - much cheaper than the $70,000 a year it costs for a prison cell.
Mr Martin said he has been told the reason Queensland politicians were reluctant to provide accommodation for prisoners was because it was "politically unpalatable."
"In other words to have dedicated housing for prisoners, people would be outraged because there are other people out there without housing,” he said.
Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie said Corrective Services provided a 12-week temporary accommodation program at South Brisbane's Ozcare Hostel at South Brisbane.
"We also have a range of other reintegration programs and Transition Coordinators in every one of our correctional centres to help prisoners find suitable accommodation ahead of their release," Mr Bleijie said.
He said being eligible for parole did not mean prisoners were released.
"It does not mean an automatic release," he said.
"The Parole Board is an independent body that makes its decisions based on a range of factors, including a prisoner's risk of reoffending."
A spokesman for Housing Minister Tim Mander said Queensland does not provide accommodation for prisoners to help them adjust to life on the outside.
“The department does not set aside houses specifically for the use of ex-prisoners," the spokesman said.
"However, people leaving correctional facilities are entitled to apply for social housing up to two years prior to becoming eligible for parole.
“The department gives high priority to appropriate housing assistance to offenders leaving correctional facilities who would otherwise be faced with homelessness.”
