NT
Funding For More Prisons
The Northern Territory government has set aside $525 million for prisons in this year’s budget.
This includes $250 million for the Corrections master plan, which involves an increase of 1535 beds in prison across the territory.
A new 198-bed prison work camp in Katherine will be built with $238 million in funding, and a 192-bed work camp at Holtze in Darwin.
The budget will also include $1.2 million for ready to work programs, and $4.9 million for alternative to custody programs in Alice Springs and Groote Eylandt.
A location for a new men’s and women’s prison will be found, with $15 million set aside for the procurement process.
VIC
Worksafe Charges Justice Department
Worksafe has charged the Victorian Justice Department over an alleged failure to provide a safe working environment.
The charges are about an assault of a prison officer that happened at Barwon Prison in February 2022.
Worksafe has alleged that the Department failed to maintain a “safe system of work” with how information about people in prison was shared with prison officers.
New Prison Beds Coming in Victoria
The Victorian budget, which outlines how the state government will spend money over the coming years, was released in early May.
It included $229 million for new prison beds in adult and youth facilities.
In comparison, $43 million was set aside for programs aiming to reduce reoffending and keep people out of prison. The number of people in prison in Victoria increased by more than 15 per cent in the last year. This was mainly because the state government made it harder to get bail.
According to the budget, bail refusals are at “record highs”, and decisions to remand someone in custody have increased by nearly 70 per cent since the changes were made.
TAS
Families Protest Outside Risdon
A protest has been held outside Risdon Prison over the regular lockdowns at the centre.
Families of people in prison held the protest outside the gates of the prison in May.
They also raised concerns about overcrowding at the prison and a lack of access to healthcare.
Contract With Education Provider Ends
A contract between TasTAFE and the Tasmanian Prison Service to provide vocational training at Risdon prison will not be renewed.
The contract will come expire at the end of June and a new one won’t be signed.
Instead, the state government said an “annual activity plan” will be developed using a fee-for-service model, with TasTAFE to still be the preferred provider.
SA
Conferences in Adelaide
Two conferences about prisons and reintegration will be held in Adelaide in June.
The Justice Reform Initiative conference, now in its 19th year, brings together experts on the ‘puzzle’ of reintegration, including community-based responses to life after prison, from housing to health care and First Nations justice. About Time will be reporting at the conference, with articles to be published in future editions.
An alternative conference, Crim Con, will also be held in Adelaide, run entirely by formerly incarcerated folk.
People who have been to prison are strongly encouraged to attend.
WA
Funding For New Prison Beds
The Western Australian government will spend nearly $90 million on new prison beds around the state.
The state budget allocated $87.7 million for prison expansions and upgrades.
A new 160-bed unit will be built at Acacia Prison, while more money has been set aside for the 512-bed expansion of Casuarina Prison.
The state government will provide $41 million for First Nations-led programs for young people, and $10.8 million to the Youth Justice Model of Care, which will include increasing the number of days per week the individual support transition team service operates at Banksia Hill from five to seven.
Quarantine Centre Could Become a Prison
A COVID quarantine centre may be turned into a prison as Western Australia deals with a significantly increasing prison population.
The Western Australian government has confirmed it is discussing bringing the Bullsbrook quarantine facility under its control.
The 500-bed centre, which is 40km north-east of Perth, was built in 2022 but has not been used.
NSW
Man Returned to Prison After Being Mistakenly Released
A man who was mistakenly released from prison has been returned to custody.
The man was wrongly released from Clarence Correctional Centre on the same day he had been sentenced to a year in prison due to an “administrative error”.
He travelled five hours after he was released, before he was arrested and returned to prison.
Calls For Changes to Prison Offences to Be Reversed
A group of human rights and legal groups have called on the NSW government to reverse changes to the prison offence process.
Late last year the burden of proof required to find someone guilty of a prison offence was lowered from “beyond reasonable doubt” to “on the balance probabilities”.
Organisations including the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Aboriginal Legal Service NSW / ACT and the Human Rights Law Centre have written an open letter to the NSW Minister for Corrections.
NT
Funding For More Prisons
The Northern Territory government has set aside $525 million for prisons in this year’s budget.
This includes $250 million for the Corrections master plan, which involves an increase of 1535 beds in prison across the territory.
A new 198-bed prison work camp in Katherine will be built with $238 million in funding, and a 192-bed work camp at Holtze in Darwin.
The budget will also include $1.2 million for ready to work programs, and $4.9 million for alternative to custody programs in Alice Springs and Groote Eylandt.
A location for a new men’s and women’s prison will be found, with $15 million set aside for the procurement process.
VIC
Worksafe Charges Justice Department
Worksafe has charged the Victorian Justice Department over an alleged failure to provide a safe working environment.
The charges are about an assault of a prison officer that happened at Barwon Prison in February 2022.
Worksafe has alleged that the Department failed to maintain a “safe system of work” with how information about people in prison was shared with prison officers.
New Prison Beds Coming in Victoria
The Victorian budget, which outlines how the state government will spend money over the coming years, was released in early May.
It included $229 million for new prison beds in adult and youth facilities.
In comparison, $43 million was set aside for programs aiming to reduce reoffending and keep people out of prison. The number of people in prison in Victoria increased by more than 15 per cent in the last year. This was mainly because the state government made it harder to get bail.
According to the budget, bail refusals are at “record highs”, and decisions to remand someone in custody have increased by nearly 70 per cent since the changes were made.
TAS
Families Protest Outside Risdon
A protest has been held outside Risdon Prison over the regular lockdowns at the centre.
Families of people in prison held the protest outside the gates of the prison in May.
They also raised concerns about overcrowding at the prison and a lack of access to healthcare.
Contract With Education Provider Ends
A contract between TasTAFE and the Tasmanian Prison Service to provide vocational training at Risdon prison will not be renewed.
The contract will come expire at the end of June and a new one won’t be signed.
Instead, the state government said an “annual activity plan” will be developed using a fee-for-service model, with TasTAFE to still be the preferred provider.
SA
Conferences in Adelaide
Two conferences about prisons and reintegration will be held in Adelaide in June.
The Justice Reform Initiative conference, now in its 19th year, brings together experts on the ‘puzzle’ of reintegration, including community-based responses to life after prison, from housing to health care and First Nations justice. About Time will be reporting at the conference, with articles to be published in future editions.
An alternative conference, Crim Con, will also be held in Adelaide, run entirely by formerly incarcerated folk.
People who have been to prison are strongly encouraged to attend.
WA
Funding For New Prison Beds
The Western Australian government will spend nearly $90 million on new prison beds around the state.
The state budget allocated $87.7 million for prison expansions and upgrades.
A new 160-bed unit will be built at Acacia Prison, while more money has been set aside for the 512-bed expansion of Casuarina Prison.
The state government will provide $41 million for First Nations-led programs for young people, and $10.8 million to the Youth Justice Model of Care, which will include increasing the number of days per week the individual support transition team service operates at Banksia Hill from five to seven.
Quarantine Centre Could Become a Prison
A COVID quarantine centre may be turned into a prison as Western Australia deals with a significantly increasing prison population.
The Western Australian government has confirmed it is discussing bringing the Bullsbrook quarantine facility under its control.
The 500-bed centre, which is 40km north-east of Perth, was built in 2022 but has not been used.
NSW
Man Returned to Prison After Being Mistakenly Released
A man who was mistakenly released from prison has been returned to custody.
The man was wrongly released from Clarence Correctional Centre on the same day he had been sentenced to a year in prison due to an “administrative error”.
He travelled five hours after he was released, before he was arrested and returned to prison.
Calls For Changes to Prison Offences to Be Reversed
A group of human rights and legal groups have called on the NSW government to reverse changes to the prison offence process.
Late last year the burden of proof required to find someone guilty of a prison offence was lowered from “beyond reasonable doubt” to “on the balance probabilities”.
Organisations including the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Aboriginal Legal Service NSW / ACT and the Human Rights Law Centre have written an open letter to the NSW Minister for Corrections.
QLD
Visits At Brisbane Correctional Centre to Increase
People incarcerated at Brisbane Correctional Centre are now allowed to have two one-hour visits each week.
Under new rules that came into effect from 6 May, the number of visits allowed has been doubled.
These visits must be either two in-person visits, or one in-person visit and one virtual visit.
Bookings can be requested by visitors via email or through a booking form at the prison’s reception.
Police Given Power To Search Without a Warrant
Jack’s Law is the name given to a new piece of legislation in force in Queensland which allows police to search people without a warrant in certain places.
This is a step away from the traditional common law approach of restraining police from interfering with civil liberty without the check and balance of judicial permission (i.e: a warrant).
Under Part 3A of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld), a police officer can require a person to ‘stop and submit to the use of a handheld scanner’ if they are in a ‘relevant place’, like a bar, bus station, or shopping centre, to name a few.
The handheld scanner detects metal. The stated aim of the law is to identify whether a person is carrying a weapon such as a knife.
ACT
Push For Different Justice Spending
The ACT government in 2024-25 spent more than twice as much on keeping First Nations people in prison than on Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs).
The new data, obtained by independent member of the ACT Parliament Thomas Emerson, revealed that $15.4 million was spent on ACCOs, compared with $36.2 million on detaining First Nations adults and children in the ACT.
According to Productivity Commission data, it costs $573.76 to keep one person in prison in the ACT per day, or about $27.2 million per year.
“Imagine the level of service provision that could be provided with the almost $600 per day it costs to incarcerate someone at Alexander Maconochie Centre, or the more than $4000 per day it costs to detain a young person at Bimberi,” Emerson said.
“These are huge costs and they’re indicative of the mistake we continue to make in failing to invest sufficiently in prevention and early intervention.”
QLD
Visits At Brisbane Correctional Centre to Increase
People incarcerated at Brisbane Correctional Centre are now allowed to have two one-hour visits each week.
Under new rules that came into effect from 6 May, the number of visits allowed has been doubled.
These visits must be either two in-person visits, or one in-person visit and one virtual visit.
Bookings can be requested by visitors via email or through a booking form at the prison’s reception.
Police Given Power To Search Without a Warrant
Jack’s Law is the name given to a new piece of legislation in force in Queensland which allows police to search people without a warrant in certain places.
This is a step away from the traditional common law approach of restraining police from interfering with civil liberty without the check and balance of judicial permission (i.e: a warrant).
Under Part 3A of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld), a police officer can require a person to ‘stop and submit to the use of a handheld scanner’ if they are in a ‘relevant place’, like a bar, bus station, or shopping centre, to name a few.
The handheld scanner detects metal. The stated aim of the law is to identify whether a person is carrying a weapon such as a knife.
ACT
Push For Different Justice Spending
The ACT government in 2024-25 spent more than twice as much on keeping First Nations people in prison than on Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs).
The new data, obtained by independent member of the ACT Parliament Thomas Emerson, revealed that $15.4 million was spent on ACCOs, compared with $36.2 million on detaining First Nations adults and children in the ACT.
According to Productivity Commission data, it costs $573.76 to keep one person in prison in the ACT per day, or about $27.2 million per year.
“Imagine the level of service provision that could be provided with the almost $600 per day it costs to incarcerate someone at Alexander Maconochie Centre, or the more than $4000 per day it costs to detain a young person at Bimberi,” Emerson said.
“These are huge costs and they’re indicative of the mistake we continue to make in failing to invest sufficiently in prevention and early intervention.”
