In its annual report, the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services said that the prison population in the state had grown by 12 percent in the last year, and that most prisons are now operating at more than 90 percent capacity.
“Many facilities have operated above their general bed capacity which has meant hundreds of people have been sleeping on the floors of cells not designed to accommodate them,” the report said.
There are daily shortages of custodial and non-custodial staff, which means that time out of cells is regularly restricted and there is limited access to support and services, the inspector said.
This has also led to overwhelming demand for mental health services in prisons.
“There is an urgent need for system level reform and sustained resourcing commitment, otherwise the problems we are seeing today will only get worse over time,” the inspector said.
In a separate report, the inspector also found that there are still major barriers in place making it difficult for people in prison to maintain contact with their friends and family on the outside.
It found that the average number of social visits in prisons in the state has declined in the last seven years, and that restrictions on phone access hours and staffing issues were contributing to issues in staying in contact.
In 2018 the average number of visits per person in prison was 26. In 2024, this number fell to 17.
The report also found that while all prisons in the state have capability for an online booking system for visits, only four prisons have this option. These facilities are Bunbury, Boronia, Casuarina and Hakea.
Minimum-security prison work camps in the state offer real benefits and improvements to rehabilitation and reintegration, but are not being used enough, a report by the WA Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services has found.
The report found that the work camps, located in Dowerin, Roebourne, Walpole, Warburton and Wyndham, have faced challenges such as staffing shortages and their remote locations.
Since 2020, the overall occupancy of many of these locations has never gone above 75 percent, and some have remained below 50 percent until recently.
The inspector also found that First Nations people were regularly underrepresented at the prison work camps due to barriers in achieving minimum security status and a limited awareness of the benefits.
A man has launched legal action challenging a ban on Vegemite in prisons in Victoria.
The man has sued the Department of Justice and Community Safety and Corrections Victoria over the ban, saying it is his right to enjoy the spread as it is “his culture as an Australian”.
The Victorian Charter of Human Rights states that no-one should be denied the opportunity to “enjoy their culture”.
Vegemite has been banned in Victorian prisons since 2006 due to concerns it can hamper the work of sniffer dogs.
A group of people who were temporarily held at the new Western Plains Correctional Centre earlier this year have launched legal action claiming the conditions at the new prison were in breach of their human rights.
In April a number of people from Barwon Prison were moved to Western Plans after a suspected gas leak, and held in the maximum-security 44-bed Karlton unit for a number of months.
The lawsuits are arguing that the conditions in the cell yards and exercise areas did not meet the definition of “open air”, and that a day in a cell in the unit “felt like a 24-hour lockdown day at Barwon Prison”.
They argue that there was no direct sunlight in the cells or exercise yards.
“This is an enclosed space in every sense of the word ‘enclosed’, it is not in the least bit open air,” one of the men told the court.
“I did not feel the sun on my skin as the roof of the yards are fully covered by iron sheeting, thick bars, and some tightly woven mesh covering which allows very little light to come through,” another said.
The men are seeking a range of declarations from the court, including that the exercise yards are in breach of Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights.
Earlier this month, emergency crews were called to Western Plains prison after a leak from a 20,000-litre liquid oxygen tank at Western Plains prison, with no injuries reported.
DPFC subacute medical unit under consideration
The Victorian government has signed a contract with an architecture firm to design a subacute medical unit at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre for future planning considerations.
If the state government decides to go ahead with the unit, it would act as a step-up or step-down from hospital care.
There are existing subacute units at the Metropolitan Remand Centre, Ravenhall, Hopkins and Western Plains.
The unit would also provide care for someone who needs assistance but is not so unwell that they need to be taken to hospital.
There is a lack of structured days in Canberra’s only prison, with limitations around education and work impacting rehabilitation and reintegration, the prison inspector has found.
The ACT Custodial Inspector released an inspection report of the Alexander Manonochie Centre late last year, finding that there was still a lack of meaningful, productive activity at the facility.
“Our review found that the absence of a structured day within the prison is a significant barrier to achieving its core objective of rehabilitation and reintegration,” ACT Custodial Inspector Rebecca Minty said in the report.
“Without sufficient purposeful activity, opportunities for skill development, education and positive engagement are limited.
“Purposeful activity in jail is not a luxury. It is fundamental to preparing individuals for successful reintegration into the community, which in turn improves community safety.”
There are now several education programs on offer at the prison, but a “piecemeal approach is not fully meeting needs”, the inspector found, with no TAFE or equivalent providing comprehensive education and training.
The ACT is also the only jurisdiction in the country that doesn’t operate a commercial prison industry of some sort.
The NT Department of Corrections has unveiled a new approach to rehabilitation, labelling previous efforts as “fragmented” and “lacking evidence-based decision-making”.
The new Rehabilitation and Reintegration Framework aims to shift from “crisis to reform”, and includes the launch of a centralised committee aiming to approve and review rehabilitation programs, restructure the system and make sure that programs remain effective.
The plan also involves moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to rehabilitation, towards one that takes cultural needs and accessibility requirements into account.
The territory government has also confirmed that a new prison work camp will be located on the existing Katherine Charles Darwin University rural campus, which will be upgraded and turned into an open-security work camp.
To access the work camp, people in prison will have to have demonstrated good behaviour and have completed offence-related programs.
In its annual report, the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services said that the prison population in the state had grown by 12 percent in the last year, and that most prisons are now operating at more than 90 percent capacity.
“Many facilities have operated above their general bed capacity which has meant hundreds of people have been sleeping on the floors of cells not designed to accommodate them,” the report said.
There are daily shortages of custodial and non-custodial staff, which means that time out of cells is regularly restricted and there is limited access to support and services, the inspector said.
This has also led to overwhelming demand for mental health services in prisons.
“There is an urgent need for system level reform and sustained resourcing commitment, otherwise the problems we are seeing today will only get worse over time,” the inspector said.
In a separate report, the inspector also found that there are still major barriers in place making it difficult for people in prison to maintain contact with their friends and family on the outside.
It found that the average number of social visits in prisons in the state has declined in the last seven years, and that restrictions on phone access hours and staffing issues were contributing to issues in staying in contact.
In 2018 the average number of visits per person in prison was 26. In 2024, this number fell to 17.
The report also found that while all prisons in the state have capability for an online booking system for visits, only four prisons have this option. These facilities are Bunbury, Boronia, Casuarina and Hakea.
Minimum-security prison work camps in the state offer real benefits and improvements to rehabilitation and reintegration, but are not being used enough, a report by the WA Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services has found.
The report found that the work camps, located in Dowerin, Roebourne, Walpole, Warburton and Wyndham, have faced challenges such as staffing shortages and their remote locations.
Since 2020, the overall occupancy of many of these locations has never gone above 75 percent, and some have remained below 50 percent until recently.
The inspector also found that First Nations people were regularly underrepresented at the prison work camps due to barriers in achieving minimum security status and a limited awareness of the benefits.
A man has launched legal action challenging a ban on Vegemite in prisons in Victoria.
The man has sued the Department of Justice and Community Safety and Corrections Victoria over the ban, saying it is his right to enjoy the spread as it is “his culture as an Australian”.
The Victorian Charter of Human Rights states that no-one should be denied the opportunity to “enjoy their culture”.
Vegemite has been banned in Victorian prisons since 2006 due to concerns it can hamper the work of sniffer dogs.
A group of people who were temporarily held at the new Western Plains Correctional Centre earlier this year have launched legal action claiming the conditions at the new prison were in breach of their human rights.
In April a number of people from Barwon Prison were moved to Western Plans after a suspected gas leak, and held in the maximum-security 44-bed Karlton unit for a number of months.
The lawsuits are arguing that the conditions in the cell yards and exercise areas did not meet the definition of “open air”, and that a day in a cell in the unit “felt like a 24-hour lockdown day at Barwon Prison”.
They argue that there was no direct sunlight in the cells or exercise yards.
“This is an enclosed space in every sense of the word ‘enclosed’, it is not in the least bit open air,” one of the men told the court.
“I did not feel the sun on my skin as the roof of the yards are fully covered by iron sheeting, thick bars, and some tightly woven mesh covering which allows very little light to come through,” another said.
The men are seeking a range of declarations from the court, including that the exercise yards are in breach of Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights.
Earlier this month, emergency crews were called to Western Plains prison after a leak from a 20,000-litre liquid oxygen tank at Western Plains prison, with no injuries reported.
DPFC subacute medical unit under consideration
The Victorian government has signed a contract with an architecture firm to design a subacute medical unit at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre for future planning considerations.
If the state government decides to go ahead with the unit, it would act as a step-up or step-down from hospital care.
There are existing subacute units at the Metropolitan Remand Centre, Ravenhall, Hopkins and Western Plains.
The unit would also provide care for someone who needs assistance but is not so unwell that they need to be taken to hospital.
There is a lack of structured days in Canberra’s only prison, with limitations around education and work impacting rehabilitation and reintegration, the prison inspector has found.
The ACT Custodial Inspector released an inspection report of the Alexander Manonochie Centre late last year, finding that there was still a lack of meaningful, productive activity at the facility.
“Our review found that the absence of a structured day within the prison is a significant barrier to achieving its core objective of rehabilitation and reintegration,” ACT Custodial Inspector Rebecca Minty said in the report.
“Without sufficient purposeful activity, opportunities for skill development, education and positive engagement are limited.
“Purposeful activity in jail is not a luxury. It is fundamental to preparing individuals for successful reintegration into the community, which in turn improves community safety.”
There are now several education programs on offer at the prison, but a “piecemeal approach is not fully meeting needs”, the inspector found, with no TAFE or equivalent providing comprehensive education and training.
The ACT is also the only jurisdiction in the country that doesn’t operate a commercial prison industry of some sort.
The NT Department of Corrections has unveiled a new approach to rehabilitation, labelling previous efforts as “fragmented” and “lacking evidence-based decision-making”.
The new Rehabilitation and Reintegration Framework aims to shift from “crisis to reform”, and includes the launch of a centralised committee aiming to approve and review rehabilitation programs, restructure the system and make sure that programs remain effective.
The plan also involves moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to rehabilitation, towards one that takes cultural needs and accessibility requirements into account.
The territory government has also confirmed that a new prison work camp will be located on the existing Katherine Charles Darwin University rural campus, which will be upgraded and turned into an open-security work camp.
To access the work camp, people in prison will have to have demonstrated good behaviour and have completed offence-related programs.
A new program has launched at the Metropolitan Special Programs Centre at Long Bay Correctional Complex that sees inmates trained to use their lived experience to talk to other people in the prison about drug and alcohol use, and offer advice on harm reduction.
The Harm Reduction Peers will be able to deliver advice on reducing the risks that come with drug use and of blood-borne viruses, and to encourage safer choices in the prison.
The peer workers, who are paid for their work, have taken part in a seven-week training program covering health, harm reduction and peer support.
There are now five Harm Reduction Peer workers at the prison, with a new uniform helping to make them identifiable in the yard.
The NSW government has a goal to eliminate Hep C in prisons by 2028.
Corrective Services NSW has also renewed its partnership with Racing NSW, which sees inmates train retired racehorses for rehoming, for another five years.
There are currently 10 inmates caring for 50 retired racehorses in prisons in NSW.
A number of organisations have written an open letter raising concerns with the NSW government’s plans to lower the burden of proof required to find someone guilty of a prison offence.
The letter is signed by the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW / ACT, AbSec, ANTAR, legal experts and university law schools, and warns that the changes could lead to further deaths in custody.
“Incarcerated people subjected to discipline proceedings, who are locked in solitary confinement, fined and deprived of basic privileges like phone calls and visits with loved ones, are at increased risk of acute and ongoing mental and physical harm, and even dying in custody, if these laws pass,” the letter said.
The NSW government is planning to make it easier to find someone guilty of committing an offence in prison, against the advice of the state Ombudsman.
The NSW prison watchdog has criticised the ageing infrastructure in some areas of the Long Bay Correctional Complex, and recommended a fit-for-purpose unit be established for aged and frail inmates.
In its inspection report on Long Bay, the NSW Inspector of Custodial Services said the “continued reliance on such old and unfit infrastructure for the delivery of critical services” at Long Bay was a problem, and that planning should have begun decades ago to phase it out.
It found that the Metropolitan Specials Program Centre “simply cannot provide a safe environment for people in custody” due to its age and condition, with the site first opened in 1909.
“This physical environment frustrates good initiatives that aim to support inmate rehabilitation and wellbeing,” the report said.
“We have no choice but to recommend its closure.”
The report also found that there is a growing number of aged and frail people in custody at Long Bay, and that specific accommodation should be provided for this group.
The Queensland prison inspector has said the conditions in “separation rooms” in youth detention centres in the state are “inhumane”, with no toilets or running waters.
The Queensland Inspector of Detention Services released a report in late November based on its inspections of a number of youth prisons.
It raised allegations that children had been placed in separation rooms with urine left on the walls and that they were forced to urinate in a drain when a bathroom request was not responded to.
“It is inappropriate for separation rooms to be left dirty if children are to be separated in a clean and dignified environment,” the report said.
“Separation rooms become soiled with urine because the rooms lack minimum facilities such as running water and a toilet.
“This inhumane conduct may force children to urinate in a drain while being monitored via CCTV, and they may be left in an enclosed room with urine or faeces. These practices increase the exposure of children to serious biohazards.”
Man busted trying to bring drugs into prison
A man has been caught trying to smuggle in drugs worth nearly $1 million into the Woodford Correctional Centre.
A joint intelligence operation between Queensland Corrective Services and Queensland Police led to the arrest of the 34-year-old man, who is now facing eight charges related to drug smuggling.
Queensland Police allege the man turned himself into a police watchhouse in early November, before officers noticed suspicious behaviour. He was then searched, with a significant quantity of drugs allegedly found.
A man has died at Maryborough Correctional Centre after an alleged incident involving two other inmates in late November.
The incident occurred at the Maryborough prison on 26 November. The man was taken to Harvey Bay Hospital but died on 1 December.
Queensland Corrective Services said it is assisting with the police investigation.
The continued use of prone restraint on children and young people in prison, where a person is held face down on a surface with their limbs restrained, is of “serious concern” and should be stopped, a new report by the SA Training Centre Visitor and Deputy Chief Psychiatrist has said.
The report said that the use of this form of restraint has known risks, and that it is banned in child mental health care environments.
It said that “behaviour management systems that rely too heavily on these restrictive and punitive responses can compound trauma”.
The report also found that the current structures and practices at the Adelaide Youth Training Centre are not meeting the complex developmental, emotional and psychological needs of children in custody, and that there is a lack of consistent and coordinated care.
Seven prisons in South Australia were plunged into a 24-hour lockdown after custodial officers around the state went on strike.
The industrial action impacted all public prisons in the state, with the privately run Mount Gambier Prison and Adelaide Remand Centre not impacted.
It came after another prison officer strike in late November over a pay dispute with the state government.
The industrial action was one of the largest by public servants in the state, and included staff from Corrections and Youth Justice.
The strike caused many of the prisons in the state to go into lockdown due to a lack of staff.
The public servants are calling for a 20 percent pay rise over an 18-month period.
The Tasmanian Custodial Inspector has called on the state government to put a ban on the use of spit hoods and improvised spit hoods into law.
In a review into an incident at a youth justice centre where a makeshift spit hood was placed over a boy’s head, the inspector recommended the state government ban this practice entirely.
The review found that a young person in detention had displayed “challenging behaviours” when he was being transported from a hospital to the youth prison by security contractors.
His t-shirt was then pulled over his face so he “could not spit on anyone again”, with video footage showing him being removed from a vehicle with his hands handcuffed behind his back and the t-shirt still over his face.
The boy told investigators that he found it “hard to breathe” during this time.
The inspector said this action was “entirely incompatible” with human rights.
A new program has launched at the Metropolitan Special Programs Centre at Long Bay Correctional Complex that sees inmates trained to use their lived experience to talk to other people in the prison about drug and alcohol use, and offer advice on harm reduction.
The Harm Reduction Peers will be able to deliver advice on reducing the risks that come with drug use and of blood-borne viruses, and to encourage safer choices in the prison.
The peer workers, who are paid for their work, have taken part in a seven-week training program covering health, harm reduction and peer support.
There are now five Harm Reduction Peer workers at the prison, with a new uniform helping to make them identifiable in the yard.
The NSW government has a goal to eliminate Hep C in prisons by 2028.
Corrective Services NSW has also renewed its partnership with Racing NSW, which sees inmates train retired racehorses for rehoming, for another five years.
There are currently 10 inmates caring for 50 retired racehorses in prisons in NSW.
A number of organisations have written an open letter raising concerns with the NSW government’s plans to lower the burden of proof required to find someone guilty of a prison offence.
The letter is signed by the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW / ACT, AbSec, ANTAR, legal experts and university law schools, and warns that the changes could lead to further deaths in custody.
“Incarcerated people subjected to discipline proceedings, who are locked in solitary confinement, fined and deprived of basic privileges like phone calls and visits with loved ones, are at increased risk of acute and ongoing mental and physical harm, and even dying in custody, if these laws pass,” the letter said.
The NSW government is planning to make it easier to find someone guilty of committing an offence in prison, against the advice of the state Ombudsman.
The NSW prison watchdog has criticised the ageing infrastructure in some areas of the Long Bay Correctional Complex, and recommended a fit-for-purpose unit be established for aged and frail inmates.
In its inspection report on Long Bay, the NSW Inspector of Custodial Services said the “continued reliance on such old and unfit infrastructure for the delivery of critical services” at Long Bay was a problem, and that planning should have begun decades ago to phase it out.
It found that the Metropolitan Specials Program Centre “simply cannot provide a safe environment for people in custody” due to its age and condition, with the site first opened in 1909.
“This physical environment frustrates good initiatives that aim to support inmate rehabilitation and wellbeing,” the report said.
“We have no choice but to recommend its closure.”
The report also found that there is a growing number of aged and frail people in custody at Long Bay, and that specific accommodation should be provided for this group.
The Queensland prison inspector has said the conditions in “separation rooms” in youth detention centres in the state are “inhumane”, with no toilets or running waters.
The Queensland Inspector of Detention Services released a report in late November based on its inspections of a number of youth prisons.
It raised allegations that children had been placed in separation rooms with urine left on the walls and that they were forced to urinate in a drain when a bathroom request was not responded to.
“It is inappropriate for separation rooms to be left dirty if children are to be separated in a clean and dignified environment,” the report said.
“Separation rooms become soiled with urine because the rooms lack minimum facilities such as running water and a toilet.
“This inhumane conduct may force children to urinate in a drain while being monitored via CCTV, and they may be left in an enclosed room with urine or faeces. These practices increase the exposure of children to serious biohazards.”
Man busted trying to bring drugs into prison
A man has been caught trying to smuggle in drugs worth nearly $1 million into the Woodford Correctional Centre.
A joint intelligence operation between Queensland Corrective Services and Queensland Police led to the arrest of the 34-year-old man, who is now facing eight charges related to drug smuggling.
Queensland Police allege the man turned himself into a police watchhouse in early November, before officers noticed suspicious behaviour. He was then searched, with a significant quantity of drugs allegedly found.
A man has died at Maryborough Correctional Centre after an alleged incident involving two other inmates in late November.
The incident occurred at the Maryborough prison on 26 November. The man was taken to Harvey Bay Hospital but died on 1 December.
Queensland Corrective Services said it is assisting with the police investigation.
The continued use of prone restraint on children and young people in prison, where a person is held face down on a surface with their limbs restrained, is of “serious concern” and should be stopped, a new report by the SA Training Centre Visitor and Deputy Chief Psychiatrist has said.
The report said that the use of this form of restraint has known risks, and that it is banned in child mental health care environments.
It said that “behaviour management systems that rely too heavily on these restrictive and punitive responses can compound trauma”.
The report also found that the current structures and practices at the Adelaide Youth Training Centre are not meeting the complex developmental, emotional and psychological needs of children in custody, and that there is a lack of consistent and coordinated care.
Seven prisons in South Australia were plunged into a 24-hour lockdown after custodial officers around the state went on strike.
The industrial action impacted all public prisons in the state, with the privately run Mount Gambier Prison and Adelaide Remand Centre not impacted.
It came after another prison officer strike in late November over a pay dispute with the state government.
The industrial action was one of the largest by public servants in the state, and included staff from Corrections and Youth Justice.
The strike caused many of the prisons in the state to go into lockdown due to a lack of staff.
The public servants are calling for a 20 percent pay rise over an 18-month period.
The Tasmanian Custodial Inspector has called on the state government to put a ban on the use of spit hoods and improvised spit hoods into law.
In a review into an incident at a youth justice centre where a makeshift spit hood was placed over a boy’s head, the inspector recommended the state government ban this practice entirely.
The review found that a young person in detention had displayed “challenging behaviours” when he was being transported from a hospital to the youth prison by security contractors.
His t-shirt was then pulled over his face so he “could not spit on anyone again”, with video footage showing him being removed from a vehicle with his hands handcuffed behind his back and the t-shirt still over his face.
The boy told investigators that he found it “hard to breathe” during this time.
The inspector said this action was “entirely incompatible” with human rights.
The death of a 16-year-old First Nations teenager in a notorious youth unit of an adult prison in Western Australia was preventable and predictable, and the result of “serious longstanding deficiencies in the system, a Coroner has found.
End-of-life care, also known as palliative care, is a healthcare process that aims to improve the quality of life and reduce the suffering of those who are terminally ill. Being incarcerated can make this stage of life even more complicated.
Obtaining information from federal agencies is about to become subject to stricter rules under the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025 (Cth).
In early December, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited Australia. Their purpose was to provide guidance on how international human rights standards apply to prisons and places of detention.
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