ACT
Prison Population Grows
The number of people in prison in the ACT has grown by a lot in the last four years.
According to government numbers, there was an average of just under 500 people in Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) in March this year.
This is a big increase from March 2023, when there was an average of 393 people in the prison.
The ACT government is now publicly posting the number of people in prison and number of people released each month.
AMC can hold about 540 people in total.
NSW
Old Prisons to Be Closed
Old sections of Silverwater women’s prison and Goulburn prison will be shut down by September this year.
The New South Wales government has announced that most of Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre, including the Mental Health Screening Unit and Mum Shirl Unit, which were built in 1969, will be shut down.
The prison will continue to run as an intake and reception centre only.
The maximum-security section of Goulburn Correctional Centre, which was first opened in 1884, will also be shut down by September.
The Inspector of Custodial Services NSW has recommended that this happen, and the NSW government said it had received other feedback about Silverwater.
The changes at Goulburn will not impact the High Risk Management Correctional Units and the minimum security areas.
Those placed in the maximum security unit currently will be taken to other prisons.
Inquest Into Death at Clarence Prison Concludes
A coronial inquest into the death of a 29-year-old man at Clarence Correctional Centre has come to an end.
Dictor Dongrin, a 29-year-old man, died the day he entered the privately-run prison in June 2022 after he was arrested for a drunk fight with his brother.
When he entered the prison, Dongrin was assessed as showing moderate alcohol withdrawal, and was seen as a high-risk patient.
Despite this, the coronial inquest heard that he was left unattended at the prison for 21 hours before his death.
The lawyer assisting the coroner said there was an “accumulation of deficiencies” and that Dongrin “died of causes which were preventable if medical intervention had occurred”.
Serco, which operates the Clarence prison, said it had made a number of changes following the death, including structured medical shift handovers and daily briefings between prison health officials.
Further Monitoring of Phone Calls Rejected
A state government move to allow more monitoring of phone calls between lawyers and people in prison has been rejected by NSW Parliament.
Phone calls from prisons in NSW are usually monitoring and recorded, unless it is with a politician or lawyer.
The NSW government in January introduced a new regulation narrowing the exemption to only phone calls and letters with lawyers currently representing an inmate, providing advice to them or in the process of becoming their representative.
The state government said this was fixing a “potential loophole” allowing lawyers not representing someone in prison to engage in, promote or aid criminal activity while not being surveilled.
But members of Parliament were worried there was no evidence of this happening, and the Greens, backed by the Opposition, moved a motion to disallow the regulation.
VIC
Drug Bust During Prison Visit
Victoria Police have conducted a drug bust during visits to Metropolitan Remand Centre, with one man charged with allegedly trying to bring drugs into the prison.
During the crackdown, one person visiting someone in the prison tested positive for cocaine.
Sniffer dogs also detected traces of drugs on a visitor, leading to a search of their car where cocaine, steroid vials, valium, syringes and illegal tobacco were allegedly found.
A 39-year-old man has been charged with attempting to bring drugs into the prison.
According to authorities, prison staff have stopped more than 100 attempts at bring drugs into Victorian prisons since July last year.
Beechworth Escapee Returned to Custody
A man who escaped from Beechworth Correctional Centre has been returned to custody after a search overnight.
The 52-year-old man was reported missing before being found and taken back into custody without incident.
SA
Lawsuit Launched Over Abuse in Youth Detention
A class action lawsuit has been launched on behalf of people who were abused in South Australia’s youth detention system.
The case relates to alleged abuse at the Magill and Cavan Youth Training Centres from 1970 to December 2015.
The lawsuit has been filed in the Supreme Court and means that other people who have experienced abuse in these centres during that time.
QLD
Man Located After Escaping From Palen
A man has been returned from custody after escaping from Palen Creek Low Security Correctional Centre in late March.
The 35-year-old man was taken into police custody and then moved to a high-security facility.
Daniels Law Now Live in Queensland
The Community Protection and Public Child Sex Offender Register (Daniel’s Law) Act 2025 is now law in Queensland.
Under ‘Daniels Law’ members of the public can access information about people who are on Queensland’s Child Protection Register.
The information is available through a government website.
The website lets any member of the public check if there are people on the register who are missing.
The website also lets eligible members of the public apply to access:
- Whether any people on the register live in their local area; or
- Whether a specific person who is in contact with their child is on the register.
Information about where people on the register live or if a specific person is on the register, can only be accessed after an application is made and approved. There are also eligibility criteria for who can make these applications.
Only information about people who are currently on Queensland’s Child Protection Register can be released.
Only reportable offenders are on the Register.
A reportable offender is defined in section 5 of the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2004.
A reportable offender must be given written notice of their reporting obligations and the consequences that may arise if they fail to comply with those obligations.
ACT
Prison Population Grows
The number of people in prison in the ACT has grown by a lot in the last four years.
According to government numbers, there was an average of just under 500 people in Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) in March this year.
This is a big increase from March 2023, when there was an average of 393 people in the prison.
The ACT government is now publicly posting the number of people in prison and number of people released each month.
AMC can hold about 540 people in total.
NSW
Old Prisons to Be Closed
Old sections of Silverwater women’s prison and Goulburn prison will be shut down by September this year.
The New South Wales government has announced that most of Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre, including the Mental Health Screening Unit and Mum Shirl Unit, which were built in 1969, will be shut down.
The prison will continue to run as an intake and reception centre only.
The maximum-security section of Goulburn Correctional Centre, which was first opened in 1884, will also be shut down by September.
The Inspector of Custodial Services NSW has recommended that this happen, and the NSW government said it had received other feedback about Silverwater.
The changes at Goulburn will not impact the High Risk Management Correctional Units and the minimum security areas.
Those placed in the maximum security unit currently will be taken to other prisons.
Inquest Into Death at Clarence Prison Concludes
A coronial inquest into the death of a 29-year-old man at Clarence Correctional Centre has come to an end.
Dictor Dongrin, a 29-year-old man, died the day he entered the privately-run prison in June 2022 after he was arrested for a drunk fight with his brother.
When he entered the prison, Dongrin was assessed as showing moderate alcohol withdrawal, and was seen as a high-risk patient.
Despite this, the coronial inquest heard that he was left unattended at the prison for 21 hours before his death.
The lawyer assisting the coroner said there was an “accumulation of deficiencies” and that Dongrin “died of causes which were preventable if medical intervention had occurred”.
Serco, which operates the Clarence prison, said it had made a number of changes following the death, including structured medical shift handovers and daily briefings between prison health officials.
Further Monitoring of Phone Calls Rejected
A state government move to allow more monitoring of phone calls between lawyers and people in prison has been rejected by NSW Parliament.
Phone calls from prisons in NSW are usually monitoring and recorded, unless it is with a politician or lawyer.
The NSW government in January introduced a new regulation narrowing the exemption to only phone calls and letters with lawyers currently representing an inmate, providing advice to them or in the process of becoming their representative.
The state government said this was fixing a “potential loophole” allowing lawyers not representing someone in prison to engage in, promote or aid criminal activity while not being surveilled.
But members of Parliament were worried there was no evidence of this happening, and the Greens, backed by the Opposition, moved a motion to disallow the regulation.
VIC
Drug Bust During Prison Visit
Victoria Police have conducted a drug bust during visits to Metropolitan Remand Centre, with one man charged with allegedly trying to bring drugs into the prison.
During the crackdown, one person visiting someone in the prison tested positive for cocaine.
Sniffer dogs also detected traces of drugs on a visitor, leading to a search of their car where cocaine, steroid vials, valium, syringes and illegal tobacco were allegedly found.
A 39-year-old man has been charged with attempting to bring drugs into the prison.
According to authorities, prison staff have stopped more than 100 attempts at bring drugs into Victorian prisons since July last year.
Beechworth Escapee Returned to Custody
A man who escaped from Beechworth Correctional Centre has been returned to custody after a search overnight.
The 52-year-old man was reported missing before being found and taken back into custody without incident.
SA
Lawsuit Launched Over Abuse in Youth Detention
A class action lawsuit has been launched on behalf of people who were abused in South Australia’s youth detention system.
The case relates to alleged abuse at the Magill and Cavan Youth Training Centres from 1970 to December 2015.
The lawsuit has been filed in the Supreme Court and means that other people who have experienced abuse in these centres during that time.
QLD
Man Located After Escaping From Palen
A man has been returned from custody after escaping from Palen Creek Low Security Correctional Centre in late March.
The 35-year-old man was taken into police custody and then moved to a high-security facility.
Daniels Law Now Live in Queensland
The Community Protection and Public Child Sex Offender Register (Daniel’s Law) Act 2025 is now law in Queensland.
Under ‘Daniels Law’ members of the public can access information about people who are on Queensland’s Child Protection Register.
The information is available through a government website.
The website lets any member of the public check if there are people on the register who are missing.
The website also lets eligible members of the public apply to access:
- Whether any people on the register live in their local area; or
- Whether a specific person who is in contact with their child is on the register.
Information about where people on the register live or if a specific person is on the register, can only be accessed after an application is made and approved. There are also eligibility criteria for who can make these applications.
Only information about people who are currently on Queensland’s Child Protection Register can be released.
Only reportable offenders are on the Register.
A reportable offender is defined in section 5 of the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2004.
A reportable offender must be given written notice of their reporting obligations and the consequences that may arise if they fail to comply with those obligations.
WA
High-Tech Microscope Comes to Prison
People at Bandyup Women’s Prison have had the chance to use a “super microscope”.
As part of Curtin University’s Science Meets Art program, people at the prison were able to try out the cutting-edge technology.
They used the microscope to examine samples 50 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Hakea Inmates Sue State Government
Six men are taking the Western Australian government to court over the conditions they faced at Hakea Prison.
The men have claimed that they experienced “inhumane living conditions” at the prison from March 2023 to April this year.
The case has been lodged with the Supreme Court of WA by the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA.
The men are claiming loss and damage after they say they were kept in their cells and had “severely reduced access to essential entitlements and services”.
Death at Bandyup Prison
There has been a death in custody at Bandyup Women’s Prison.
A 40-year-old First Nations woman was found unresponsive in her bed on 18 April.
A report will now be prepared for the state coroner.
It’s the second death in custody at the prison in the last five weeks.
NT
Officer Strike Called Off
Prison officers have cancelled a planned strike after a man died at Darwin Correctional Centre in late March.
A 26-year-old First Nations man died at the prison on the morning of 28 March after he was found unresponsive in his cell.
Prison officers in the Territory had planned to walk off the job for 24 hours in early April, but scrapped this plan after the death.
The strike would have seen people in prison in the NT put into long lockdowns.
The planned strike came after a 12-hour strike by prison officers in Alice Springs.
Court Changes Aim to Make Things Faster
A number of changes have been made to fast-track court cases.
The use of video-links instead of someone appearing in court in person will now be encourage, and indictable matters will be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, under the NT government changes.
The type of matters that can be heard in local court will also be increased, and related domestic violence charges will be included together.
WA
High-Tech Microscope Comes to Prison
People at Bandyup Women’s Prison have had the chance to use a “super microscope”.
As part of Curtin University’s Science Meets Art program, people at the prison were able to try out the cutting-edge technology.
They used the microscope to examine samples 50 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Hakea Inmates Sue State Government
Six men are taking the Western Australian government to court over the conditions they faced at Hakea Prison.
The men have claimed that they experienced “inhumane living conditions” at the prison from March 2023 to April this year.
The case has been lodged with the Supreme Court of WA by the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA.
The men are claiming loss and damage after they say they were kept in their cells and had “severely reduced access to essential entitlements and services”.
Death at Bandyup Prison
There has been a death in custody at Bandyup Women’s Prison.
A 40-year-old First Nations woman was found unresponsive in her bed on 18 April.
A report will now be prepared for the state coroner.
It’s the second death in custody at the prison in the last five weeks.
NT
Officer Strike Called Off
Prison officers have cancelled a planned strike after a man died at Darwin Correctional Centre in late March.
A 26-year-old First Nations man died at the prison on the morning of 28 March after he was found unresponsive in his cell.
Prison officers in the Territory had planned to walk off the job for 24 hours in early April, but scrapped this plan after the death.
The strike would have seen people in prison in the NT put into long lockdowns.
The planned strike came after a 12-hour strike by prison officers in Alice Springs.
Court Changes Aim to Make Things Faster
A number of changes have been made to fast-track court cases.
The use of video-links instead of someone appearing in court in person will now be encourage, and indictable matters will be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, under the NT government changes.
The type of matters that can be heard in local court will also be increased, and related domestic violence charges will be included together.
