Custodial Inspector Lockdowns Review

Office of the Custodial Inspector Tasmania – Lockdowns Review 2021.

Executive Summary

Media release – Elise Archer, Attorney-General, Minister for Corrections, 24 June 2021

Custodial Inspector report

The Tasmanian Government notes the Custodial Inspector’s review into lockdowns tabled in Parliament today.

Our top priority is to keep Tasmanians safe, and the Custodial Inspector himself notes that lockdowns are a necessary and unavoidable part of our prison system – being used when needed to ensure a safe and secure prison environment for prisoners, staff, and visitors.

We do acknowledge that spending more time out of cells is an important part of prisoner rehabilitation, and the Department of Justice supports all the recommendations in the review, with all but one listed as an existing initiative.

This clearly demonstrates that the Department and the Custodial Inspectorate are largely in agreement with the required approach to improve time out of cells for prisoners in Tasmania. This is why the Tasmania Prison Service (TPS) has dedicated staff working directly with the Custodial Inspector on matters he raises.

Importantly, we have recruited heavily in Correctional Officers since coming to Government, with over 200 extra Correctional Officers employed in our prison system since 2016, including 79 in 2020 alone – despite COVID-19 – with at least two new recruitments planned this year and the first of those underway now.

The contrast with Labor couldn’t be greater, who have failed to promise one additional correctional officer at the last two consecutive elections, and they failed to adequately invest in prison infrastructure during their entire 16 years in government.

Under our Government, there has been considerable investment in the Tasmania Prison Service and we remain committed to addressing challenges within the prison service. That is why we are both upgrading and building the necessary infrastructure as well as recruiting staff at a rate never seen before to address these capacity issues.

Prison management also continues to explore a variety of other strategies to minimise the likelihood of lockdowns in Tasmanian Prison facilities, and takes a planned and structured approach to the use of lockdowns in order to minimise their effects as best as possible.

Media release – Ella Haddad MP, Shadow Corrections Minister, 24 June 2021

What will it take for Elise Archer to act on dire, dangerous situation at prison?

After countless reports and years of inaction, Attorney-General Elise Archer needs to tell Tasmanians if she will act on the latest damning report from the Custodial Inspector which shows Risdon Prison is a pressure cooker where fundamental human rights are routinely denied.

Shadow Corrections Minister Ella Haddad said the extraordinary report released today shows prison staff and inmates are being placed at daily risk because of Ms Archer’s blatant refusal to improve conditions and allocate essential resources.

“Risdon Prison is a pressure cooker and the Liberal Government and Elise Archer have known that for years,” Ms Haddad said.

“And now that has become crystal clear with this damning Custodial Inspector’s report released today.

“Ms Archer and the government have refused to act and, in fact, things have only become worse year on year over the past seven years.

“Staff have been placed in an impossible situation because of Ms Archer’s continued ignorance of report after report pointing out the clear evidence.

“She knows this prison has been at breaking point for years and she knows it is dangerous.

“She knows it’s completely unacceptable that staff have been placed in the position where because of a lack of resources they have to lock inmates away in cells for 24 hours a day without access to education or training programs that might be improve their chances of not becoming part of a revolving door.

“What does Ms Archer expect staff to do?

“And what does she expect when, under her management, nearly 60 per cent of inmates are back in prison within two years because she has not equipped the prison with resources it needs.

“Ms Archer is presiding over a system that is completely broken – a system where fundamental human rights are being denied – and now that the evidence is clear in front of her, she needs to finally do something.”