There's plenty of opportunity to develop parts of Australia which are considered "too far outback" ... they could be utilised for teaching trades, mining sector work, waste management etc. Will open plane prisons be the way of the future in OECD countries with the right geographical circumstances, perhaps also to lay the foundations for future towns?
Once the towns are finished, the prison itself moves on to develop new parts of Australia.
Obviously this sort of arrangement wouldn't be suitable for all inmates, but for the majority of them it would enhance their skill sets, they would learn a trade,and at least have something to work towards and look forward to doing upon release.
This would be a great opportunity to train youth who would otherwise spiral into a cycle of reoffending too.
Investors could opt in also, developers too.
Could something like this work?
We have the technology to track humans these days, they would be free to roam around their own neighbourhoods ( this opposed to prison wings) there would be currency, local pubs, and facilities you'd expect to find in most regional towns, the only point of difference is they will be required to work in order to partake in community venues like local hotel and so forth, and work they will because they will have streets, hotels, arcades etc named after them, have a degree of creative input into their particular projects, and for once, have something to feel good about themselves.
Seems odd to expect that caging humans like animals will result in them becoming more human, less antisocial, more inclined to fit in with mainstream society upon release

Perhaps if we made our mainstream prisons more like mainstream society then the transition would be more effective?
I'm not referring to those with serious psychiatric disorders aka the criminaly insane, of course, they couldn't be trusted to participate in something like this.