NT Corrections Commissioner says ageing infrastructure of Alice Springs prison poses security risk

A Red Centre’s ageing prison infrastructure allowed prisoners to smash their way through concrete bricks in their bid to escape. But after a report revealed the alarming chink in its armour, the NT Corrections boss says he is working to find a solution.

The Alice Springs Correctional Centre.

Ageing infrastructure aided the attempted escape of prisoners from Alice Springs Correctional Centre, as the Corrections boss concedes that security weaknesses are built into the walls of the desert prison.

Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley said he would be going to the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (DIPL) after a study of the Alice Springs prison found a number of the besser blocks were no longer sufficiently reinforced.

Mr Varley said the vulnerabilities in the 30-year-old prison were exposed last year, after a group of prisoners were able to break their way out of their block by using a broken table leg to smash through concrete blocks near a window.

In March five medium security prisoners broke through a wall of G-block into another section of the prison, but they did not breach the secure perimeter.

Despite being reinforced and filled with concrete, Mr Varley said time had taken its toll on the 30-year-old prison walls.

NT Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“It looks like over time some of those blocks have weakened in their structural integrity and they were able to break through,” Mr Varley said.

NT tender records show that $86,216 was spent on the structural building scan of the G-Block and the management zone following the attempted escape.

Ten months on and Mr Varley confirmed that the scan of the largely besser block prison and had found other weak sections in the walls.

Mr Varley said the report found the “vast majority” of the bricks were sufficiently reinforced, but not all were up to standard.

“I’ve just received a report literally this week from that company to have a look at some of the risks factors or otherwise around those walls, and I’ll be taking a look at that with DIPL as well,” he said.

“We’ve got to go through that and understand if there’s remedies that we need to make and we’ll do that with the expert advice from DIPL.

“We are moving as fast as we can to work through some of those issues, but it’s a complex piece of work to bring what is really legacy infrastructure up to the standards that we might want to see today.”

It comes as the Territory’s Corrections system recorded its highest number of escapes and absconding incidents in five years, with 16 security breaches – not including unsuccessful attempts.

The Alice Springs Correctional Centre was found to have weak sections in its walls, Mr Varley said.

The Justice Department’s annual report said in 2022-23, five prisoners absconded from Datjala Work Camp, seven absconded from Darwin prison’s Sector 11, one escape and one abscond from the Alice Springs Reintegration Facility and two absconded from the Royal Darwin Hospital on a General Leave Permit.

The Department said the general public were not at risk during those incidents, and all prisoners were Low Security Rated.

While Mr Varley said security incidents were dealt with via the internal disciplinary regime and system, with prisoners possibly facing misconduct charges or intensive management behaviour plans which could mean a loss of privileges or other corrective measures.

It comes after another escape attempt within G-Block of Alice Springs Correctional Centre was discovered on Boxing Day.

Mr Varley confirmed there were 16 people in the G-Block dormitory with four of the younger prisoners involved in the escape attempt by breaching the roof space sometime between lockdown at 8pm on Christmas night and morning inspection at 10am.

Mr Varley said the failed escape attempt was not a result or related to heat or overcrowding issues in the prison.

Mr Varley said it appeared that the attempted fugitives made a makeshift tool using fabric and wire to pull down and bend away the fixtures on the ceiling to create a crawl space above the ceiling over the door.

Despite turning the bar of a pedestal fan into a tool in an attempt to pry open metal, the prisoners were not able to breach the roof.

Mr Varley said while G-Block was often used for vulnerable prisoners, there were also sections of the maximum security wing used to house “some of the most challenging behaviour and higher risk prisoners” including the young prisoners who tried to escape.

“(But) It wasn’t a planned event of any great sophistication,” he said.

“Often you’ll see in the prison system that some of the younger ones tend to be a bit more interesting and complex to manage.

“Some of the older ones often roll their eyes and say ‘these are the young boys playing up a little bit’.”

Mr Varley said the attempted escape was not related to heat or overcrowding issues.