Qld prison officers’ concerns over jail condom trial

Condoms may be trialled in Queensland jails, but first prison officers want body scanners and mouth swabs for inmates.

The trial is planned for Queensland prisons. (File picture)

Prison officers say they want body scanners and mouth swabs for prisoners before they agree to condoms being trialled in Queensland jails.

The Courier-Mail last month revealed condoms could be introduced to jails for the first time in a bid to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

The rollout would align the state with others in Australia.

A meeting has been held with prison officers and Queensland Health officials, but no agreement was reached and instead a working group was set up. Officers have raised concerns, saying prisoners still shared needles that would continue the spread of diseases.

They have also brought up concerns about whether sex was consensual, and that prisoners would be able to cheat the prison drug-testing regime by storing clear urine in condoms. Officers have said mouth swabs and body scanners would alleviate many of the concerns of the introduction of condoms in jails.

“Syringes are coming in banked inside prisoners – that’s why the body scanners are crucial,” an officer said. Queensland Corrective Services have announced a trial of body scanners at Brisbane Women’s jail and the new men’s prison that is yet to be completed at Gatton. However, a complete rollout is yet to be announced.

Management has a preference for urine testing rather than swabs because of longer detection windows, and urine tests can also detect more substances. Prisoners who undergo targeted urine testing are subjected to removal-of-clothing searches and officers are trained to monitor prisoners.

Prison officers said condoms were trialled in 1992 at Moreton Bay Correctional Centre but then did not go ahead. A possible trial of condoms was again floated in 2021 but was not approved by corrective services.

It’s unclear where prisoners would be able to access condoms, but officers have rejected suggestions they should be able to be freely picked up in communal areas in units.

A QCS spokeswoman said the department was continuing to work with lead agency Queensland Health and the Together union to consider “all elements and related issues” of trialling the use of condoms in jails.

“QCS has a range of existing measures to prevent the introduction and use of illicit substances and prohibited items in facilities,” she said.

“As a forward-thinking organisation, we are always considering new measures to further enhance the agency’s contraband disruption strategies.

“To ensure ongoing effectiveness, QCS does not publicly discuss surveillance activities and methodologies.”

Health officials previously gave prison officers advice that using condoms was highly effective in preventing sexual HIV infection and that the World Health Organisation, UN, and Public Health Association of Australia advocate they should be made freely available in prisons.

“Queensland is the only jurisdiction in Australia where condoms are not available in prisons, which is why we are intending to conduct a trial,” a Queensland Health spokesman said last month. “While it is a breach for prisoners to have sex, it is incumbent on a health authority to ensure those who have sex are doing so safely.

“Research shows access to condoms does not lead to an increase or change in the frequency of sexual activity in correctional centres.

“It does, however, increase the likelihood safe sex will be practised.”