Inmates told to sleep on cell floors as bed shortage hits prisons

OVERCROWDED jails are reaching breaking point with the State Government scrambling to find beds for displaced prisoners from the mothballed Borallon Correctional Centre.

Wolston Correctional Centre

OVERCROWDED jails are reaching breaking point with the State Government scrambling to find beds for displaced prisoners from the mothballed Borallon Correctional Centre.

QCS recently struck a deal with the privately-run Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre to let up to 150 inmates sleep on the floor while bunk beds were being constructed. The high-security 890-bed facility, operated by GEO Group, currently has 997 prisoners.

QCS acting commissioner Marlene Morison said the six-month deal was significantly cheaper than transferring the prisoners to the state-run Woodford Correctional Centre, which had 404 beds available.

Ms Morison said 60 Arthur Gorrie inmates were now sleeping on mattresses on the floor in "double-up" accommodation, while the first 84 inmates from Borallon were also sharing prison cells.

Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said there was significant violence in jail including sexual violence and having people doubling up in a cell designed for one, increased the risk.

Ms Morison said recommissioning the vacant beds at Woodford would take up to four months because it involved systems testing, and staff recruitment and training and denied shared cells created safety risks to staff or inmates.

Corrective Services Minister Neil Roberts said housing extra prisoners at Arthur Gorrie was a temporary strategy and part of a wider reorganisation of the state's prisons.
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UP CLOSE: QUEENSLAND'S JAILS

HIGH SECURITY
5171 prisoners in 10 high security correctional centres - eight government and two private

LOW SECURITY
463 prisoners in seven low security correction centres
 
1. Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre
Capacity: 890
Current inmates: 997
HIGH SECURITY
* 20km south-west of Brisbane
* Privately operated by GEO Group Australia
* Remand centre for south-east Queensland
 
2. Borallon Correctional Centre
Capacity: 492
Current inmates: 319
HIGH SECURITY
* 50km west of Brisbane
* Privately operated by Serco Australia
* Being decommissioned in February
 
3. Brisbane Correctional Centre
Capacity:  540
Current inmates: 517
HIGH SECURITY
* Wacol, 20km south-west of Brisbane
* Formally known as Sir David Longland Correctional Centre

4. Brisbane Women's Correctional Centre
Capacity: 258
Current inmates: 275
HIGH AND LOW SECURITY
* 23km south-west of Brisbane 

5. Helana Jones Correctional Centre
Capacity: 25.
Current inmates: 29
LOW SECURITY
* 8km north of Brisbane
* Low-risk female prisoners in home-style accommodation
 
6. Numinbah Correctional Centre (Female)
Capacity: 25
Current inmates: 24
LOW SECURITY
* 100km south of Brisbane in Gold Coast hinterland
 
7. Numinbah Correctional Centre (male)
Capacity: 104
Current inmates: 53
LOW SECURITY
* 100km south of Brisbane in Gold Coast hinterland

8. Capricornia Correctional Centre
Capacity: 498
Current inmates: 385 + 40 on farm
HIGH AND LOW SECURITY
20km north of Rockhampton

9. Lotus Glen Correctional Centre
Capacity: 398 secure plus 100 on farm
Current inmates: 450 plus 99 on farm
HIGH AND LOW SECURITY
* 25km south of Mareeba
* Population about 70 per cent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

10. Maryborough Correctional Centre
Capacity: 320 prisoners plus 180 in residential accommodation
Current inmates: 483 prisoners
HIGH SECURITY
* 7km north of Maryborough
 
11. Townsville Correctional Centre
Capacity:  503 plus 60 on farm
Current inmates: 473 plus 30 on farm
HIGH AND LOW SECURITY
* 12km west Townsville
 
12. Townsville Women's Correctional Centre
Capacity: 154
Current inmates: 107 prisoners
HIGH SECURITY
* 13km south of Townsville

13. Wolston Correctional Centre
Capacity: 600
Current inmates: 598
HIGH SECURITY
* 23km south-west of Brisbane
* Houses protection prisoners

14. Woodford Correctional Centre
Capacity:  988.
Current inmates: 567
HIGH SECURITY
* 100km north of Brisbane
* Specifically-designed for high security male prisoners

15. South Queensland Prison Precinct
Capacity:  300
Current inmates: 0
HIGH SECURITY
* North of Gatton
* 300-bed men's facility opens January

16. Darling Downs Correctional Centre
Capacity: 140
Current inmates: 92 prisoners
LOW SECURITY
* 15km south west of Toowoomba
* Male offenders in self-contained accommodation units
 
17. Palen Creek Correctional Centre
Capacity: 170
Current inmates: 96
LOW SECURITY
* 100km south of Brisbane
* Annexed to Wolston Correctional Centre