Papua New Guinea wants an Australian to run its jails as a way to stop corruption and constant prisoner break-outs.
The Correctional Services Minister, Tony Aimo, says he's proposing the appointment of an outsider to run the country's much derided jails.
He says the move's a response to widespread internal corruption and nepotism that's led to repeated mass break-outs and debilitating internal power struggles in the prison system.
Australia provides numerous advisers and consultants to PNG's law and justice sector but no specific framework is in place for an Australian to take the Correctional Services top position.
PNG's correctional services commissioner, Richard Sikani, was sacked earlier this year after the country's most notorious criminal William Kapris escaped from jail.
Mr Aimo said PNG could follow other Pacific island countries which have placed outsiders as police commissioners and other senior government roles as a way to bypass entrenched corruption.
