NSW
Major Changes Made to Remand Process
The Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater will begin accepting people from October 24 hours, 7 days a week under significant changes to the NSW remand process.
Currently, the remand centre only accepts people in the morning, with people who have been refused bail held in police cells until space opens up.
The state government said that “allowing police to transfer bail-refused prisoners directly into the correctional system at any time, improves the movement of inmates, reduces pressure on police cells and makes better use of prison capacity across metropolitan Sydney”.
As part of the changes, the Amber Laurel Correctional Centre, which currently runs as a small 24-hour intake and transfer facility for those on remand, will shut.
Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre will become a 30-bed facility, while Mary Wade Correctional Centre will return to being a women’s prison, with a focus on external leave and work release form custody.
Parklea Correctional Centre will return to public hands from October and will become mainly a remand centre.
TAS
Serial Family Violence Registry Coming
The Tasmanian government is planning to create a public register of serial family violence offenders.
Under the scheme, some convicted offenders will be declared “serial family violence offenders” and will be required to complete a behavioural change or rehabilitation program to have this lifted.
Such an order would apply for at least two years.
A public registry will include these details, but the courts will have the power not to publish anything that may compromise a victim’s safety or confidentiality.
If someone is found to have committed further offences after being declared this, they will face at least a six-month prison sentence, under the planned reforms.
VIC
Suppression Orders Banned For Some Offenders
The use of suppression orders to hide the identity of convicted rapists in Victoria will be banned under state government plans.
The Victorian government has announced that it will move to limit the use of suppression orders if it wins the upcoming November state election.
It said it would be closing “every loophole” that is “abused and exploited” to hide the identity of people facing court.
There is an ongoing review in the state looking into the use of interim suppression orders during trials and the grounds on which these can be made.
Prison Open Air Reforms Pass Parliament
A law has been passed in Victoria that limits the right of people in prison to get at least one hour outside in the open air.
The entitlement to be in open air in prison can be limited when weather does not allow for it, and/or “where it is not reasonably practicable to provide based on operational factors”, including: the management, good order or security of the prison; the rights, safe custody, or welfare of the prisoner or other prisoners.
Previously this right could only be limited due to the weather.
The legislation was supported by the Labor government and the Opposition, and opposed by the Greens and some members of the crossbench.
Plan for People in Prison to Work on Roads
The Labor government has announced a plan to get people held in minimum security prisons to work on road maintenance.
The pilot program would involve incarcerated people performing roadside maintenance, such as mowing lawns, controlling
weeds, removing graffiti and picking up rubbish.
WA
Small Payments for Sleeping on Cell Floors
People in Western Australian prisons who have had to sleep on mattresses on cell floors, near to the toilet, are receiving payments of up to $10.15 per week.
The gratuity is provided to those with “alternative sleeping arrangements”.
A WA Supreme Court judge recently described the overcrowding in some of the state’s prisons as “significant and inhumane”.
Good Character to Be Scrapped in Sentencing
Western Australia has followed in the footsteps of many other states with plans to ban the use of character references to try to reduce a sentence.
The ban will prevent any person convicted of a crime from relying on good character references to reduce their sentence.
Similar reforms have been made in New South Wales and Victoria, while Tasmania is planning to ban character references for “serious offences”.
Acacia Prison Expansion Goes Ahead
The WA government has signed a deal with a construction company that will bring 480 new beds to Acacia Prison.
The $238.5 million contract will see three new accommodation units constructed, along with support services and industries.
The project is planned to be finished by 2029.
NT
New Private Prison to be Built
A 1,200-bed private prison will be built in the Northern Territory as the government grapples with a rapidly increasing prison population.
The new prison, which will sit near the Darwin Correctional Precinct at Holtze, will be built and operated by a private company, delivered under a Public Private Partnership.
Under this partnership, a private company will be selected to “design, finance, build, operate and maintain the facility”.
The number of people in prison in the Northern Territory has increased by nearly 60 per cent in the last five years to 2,905 people, as of March this year.
The territory government said that consulting firm Deloitte had concluded a business case and that the government would soon release an expression of interest.
A 200-bed women’s prison will also be built next to the new private prison. The women’s facility will be run by the NT government.
NAAJA Gets $2m To Help People Leaving Prison
The Northern Territory government will provide $2 million to the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) to help it support First Nations young people and adults released from prison.
The funding will go towards NAAJA’s through-care services, which provide culturally appropriate, intensive case management for people preparing to leave prison.
NAAJA works with people in prison to develop individual case plans that identify their needs, goals and risks.
SA
Drug Searches at Yatala
Illegal drugs have allegedly been found after police searches at Yatala Labour Prison.
A joint operation by the Department for Correctional Services and South Australia Police saw a coordinated search of the prison take place.
According to the authorities, suspected drugs were found and seized at the prison, and are now being forensically examined.
QLD
Drugs Allegedly Found in Mail
Drugs worth more than $250,000 have allegedly been found in mail sent to the Brisbane Correctional Centre.
The drugs were found in mail that had been marked legally privileged.
Authorities are able to open and search that type of mail in the presence of the recipient if they suspect that it contains prohibited items.
Bail Crackdown Proposed
The Queensland government has proposed a bail crackdown that could lead to 6,000 more people being put in prison.
The state government is planning to create a new offence of breaching bail by committing one of the 45 crimes listed in its “adult crime, adult time” offences.
This new offence would come with a mandatory jail time, and the government has flagged that it may apply to children and adults.
The state government has conceded that these reforms are in breach of the state’s Human Rights Act.
ACT
Compensation For Illegal Prison Strip Search
A First Nations woman who was illegally strip searched when she was incarcerated in Canberra has received $100,000 in compensation from the ACT government.
In a civil case against the government last year, it was found that her human rights were breached when she was strip searched in a Crisis Support Unit bathroom in Alexander Maconochie Centre in 2021.
This strip search was in breach of the ACT’s Human Rights Act, the judge found.
She then lodged proceedings in Federal Court calling for damages to be awarded, with the settlement reached in early September.
NT
New Private Prison to be Built
A 1,200-bed private prison will be built in the Northern Territory as the government grapples with a rapidly increasing prison population.
The new prison, which will sit near the Darwin Correctional Precinct at Holtze, will be built and operated by a private company, delivered under a Public Private Partnership.
Under this partnership, a private company will be selected to “design, finance, build, operate and maintain the facility”.
The number of people in prison in the Northern Territory has increased by nearly 60 per cent in the last five years to 2,905 people, as of March this year.
The territory government said that consulting firm Deloitte had concluded a business case and that the government would soon release an expression of interest.
A 200-bed women’s prison will also be built next to the new private prison. The women’s facility will be run by the NT government.
NAAJA Gets $2m To Help People Leaving Prison
The Northern Territory government will provide $2 million to the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) to help it support First Nations young people and adults released from prison.
The funding will go towards NAAJA’s through-care services, which provide culturally appropriate, intensive case management for people preparing to leave prison.
NAAJA works with people in prison to develop individual case plans that identify their needs, goals and risks.
SA
Drug Searches at Yatala
Illegal drugs have allegedly been found after police searches at Yatala Labour Prison.
A joint operation by the Department for Correctional Services and South Australia Police saw a coordinated search of the prison take place.
According to the authorities, suspected drugs were found and seized at the prison, and are now being forensically examined.
QLD
Drugs Allegedly Found in Mail
Drugs worth more than $250,000 have allegedly been found in mail sent to the Brisbane Correctional Centre.
The drugs were found in mail that had been marked legally privileged.
Authorities are able to open and search that type of mail in the presence of the recipient if they suspect that it contains prohibited items.
Bail Crackdown Proposed
The Queensland government has proposed a bail crackdown that could lead to 6,000 more people being put in prison.
The state government is planning to create a new offence of breaching bail by committing one of the 45 crimes listed in its “adult crime, adult time” offences.
This new offence would come with a mandatory jail time, and the government has flagged that it may apply to children and adults.
The state government has conceded that these reforms are in breach of the state’s Human Rights Act.
ACT
Compensation For Illegal Prison Strip Search
A First Nations woman who was illegally strip searched when she was incarcerated in Canberra has received $100,000 in compensation from the ACT government.
In a civil case against the government last year, it was found that her human rights were breached when she was strip searched in a Crisis Support Unit bathroom in Alexander Maconochie Centre in 2021.
This strip search was in breach of the ACT’s Human Rights Act, the judge found.
She then lodged proceedings in Federal Court calling for damages to be awarded, with the settlement reached in early September.
