Government documents show rising rate of assaults on prison guards in South Australian jails.

PRISON guards are being spat on, punched and doused with urine in a growing number of attacks by inmates each year.

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PRISON guards are being spat on, punched and doused with urine in a rising number of attacks by inmates.

Details of the assaults prompted renewed calls for the State Government to address the “pressure-cooker environment” caused by cell overcrowding in South Australian jails.

Documents released to the Opposition through Freedom of Information laws show there were 32 serious attacks on guards last financial year, up from 23 the previous year and 10 assaults in 2013-14.

Disturbing attacks include:

A CORRECTIONS staff member assaulted by three drunken inmates.

A PRISONER throwing a bottle of urine at a guard.

AN inmate punching a prison officer in the face.

MULTIPLE prisoners spitting at guards.

A CRIMINAL kicking and biting a guard.

A PRISONER throwing hot water at a guard.

The Government says assaults on prison staff in South Australia are well below the national average, but the Opposition warns that jail overcrowding is creating tensions.

Opposition corrections spokesman Stephan Knoll attributed the recent rise, in part, to “the pressure-cooker environment in our prisons”.

“The Government are jamming more and more people in (to prisons) and have no plan to fix the overcrowding problem,” Mr Knoll said.

“These examples show that our corrections officers are working in increasingly difficult situations and the Government needs to explain how they are going to work to reverse this trend.”

Correctional Services Minister Peter Malinauskas said the “vast majority” of assaults happened in higher security prisons, and those facilities taking in new admissions and remandee prisoners.

“The reality is, many people in prison find themselves in prison for committing violent crimes and anger management issues don’t vanish the moment someone is incarcerated,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“A major part of correctional officer training is around managing violent behaviour and I believe that our correctional officers have the skills and knowledge to manage incidents in our prisons.”

Public Service Association assistant general secretary Natasha Brown said safety was a serious concern for prison workers.

“Prisons can be dangerous environments to work in and our members face real risks every day so that the community is protected,” she said. “No one goes to work to get injured.”

There are about 3060 prisoners currently held behind bars in SA.

Corrections Department boss David Brown has forecast the daily average prisoner population is expected to reach 3568 by mid-2022.