With just one spare bed, inmates are at maximum capacity at Gatton’s women’s jail

With just one spare bed at Gatton’s prison, it’s not surprising tensions can run high between the hundreds of inmates. Here’s what’s been happening inside the jail:

In 2018, the Gatton SQCC was reclassified as a women’s facility to solve chronic overcrowding issues for women in custody.. Photo: Hugh Suffell.

Every few days a woman is suffering at the hands of other inmates behind the bars of Southern Queensland Correctional Centre as the high security prison reaches 100 per cent capacity.

With just one spare bed at the women’s Southern Queensland Correctional Centre, female inmates have been involved in 36 assaults between January 1 and May 25, averaging one a week.

With just one bed spare in the 300-inmate prison, assaults have gone up year on year at the facility 94km west of Brisbane, compared to 29 in the same time period last year.

The assaults are considered minor because they did not require medical treatment, a SERCO spokeswoman said.

Reasons for assaults on prisoners and staff range in reasons, the spokeswoman said, but normally stem from personal differences to issues related to family and friends in the community.

One of the high security cell blocks at the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre near Gatton. (File image)

“SERCO has a zero tolerance for violence and prisoners involved in any anti-social behaviour are managed accordingly to the centres breach process and incentive schemes,” she said.

The centre, which opened in 2021, was originally home to incarcerated men, but in 2018, it was reclassified as a women’s facility to solve chronic overcrowding issues for women in custody.

The prison has toted provided yoga sessions, which include yoga, to prisoners as part of SQCC’s “violence prevention strategy” and are delivered by a qualified external yoga teacher, however

A SERCO spokeswoman said the sessions incorporate meditation practices but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the program was temporarily cancelled.

But the prison aims to keep inmates as active as possible with core daily activities starting at 7.30 until evening lockdown at 6.30pm with a scheduled 45 minute lockdown for lunch, and inmates only get free to air television in their cells.

Despite minor assaults, the only lockdowns in 2020 were due to coronavirus restrictions, which were mandatory across south east Queensland prisons.

The SERCO spokesman said lockdowns were a precaution and intended to keep staff and prisoners safe.

“SERCO are proud to have successfully delivered safe and secure operations throughout 2020 without any instances of COVID-19 infections occurring across the centre,” the spokesman said.

In addition, for 2021 so far, there have been no illicit drug finds at the prison or attempts to introduce contraband through visitors.