Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley confirms record breaking 2598 Territorians in prison

The prison boss overseeing one of the most incarcerated places per capita on the planet has warned the Northern Territory is headed for a ‘tough New Year’ as a grim new record is broken.

Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley and Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley on Monday December 30. Picture: Zizi Averill

Corrections staff have warned there is ‘nothing more to give’ with the Territory’s jails buckling under the pressure of another record-breaking influx of prisoners.

Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley confirmed the NT had once again broken its prison population record with 2598 people locked up as of December 30 — a further 84 since Christmas Eve.

More than one per cent of Territorians are set to ring in the New Year from inside a jail cell, meaning the NT has the second highest prison rate in the world behind El Salvador.

Mr Varley said the system was grappling with the “overwhelming pressure” of the rising prison numbers, with the situation only expected to worsen.

“We’ve seen a steep rise in the prison population, all of our facilities are at maximum capacity and the watch houses are full,” he said.

“We are in a continued emergency management phase.

“The unknown factor is what the future holds.

“We’re under no illusions that we’re in for a tough New Year.”

Mr Varley said 106 sentenced male prisoners were now in the formerly decommissioned Berrimah prison, while 24 men were flown from Central Australia to Darwin to relieve pressure on the Alice Springs watch house.

While Mr Varley said staffing numbers were at their highest level on record — with 690 officers across the prison system — he acknowledged this had not kept pace with the record-breaking demand.

“This level of population comes with operational risk, and our officers are doing a remarkable job to manage that,” he said.

Mr Varley said there were 193 Correctional officers in Alice Springs Prison, 40 less than his current target of 230 officers.

He said over the next few months he would like to see between 50 and 100 officers recruited to meet an anticipated rise in demand.

But the Corrections union warned staff were already losing confidence in management’s ability to their safety and the security in the overcrowded prisons.

United Workers Union NT secretary Erina Early said for the past three years there had been an “ongoing revolving door” as the system struggled to retain officers.

“Officers are at breaking point and have been expected to work above and beyond capacity for months ensuring prisoner, community and their own safety,” Ms Early said.

Unions NT secretary Erina Early. Picture: Floss Adams

With just four days left until strict new bail laws kick into gear, Ms Early also raised her concerns about the Corrections system’s ability to take in additional people.

“Corrections is completely stretched. There is nothing more to give,” she said.

“We do not have the infrastructure and officers to humanely detain and house prisoners.”

Despite the prisons already buckling at their maximum capacity, Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley defended the controversial bail reforms which will go into effect on Thursday.

“Our primary focus, which is paramount to the government, is to keep the community safe,” he said.

Mr Maley emphasised education and rehabilitation programs were necessary to stop “the cycle of reoffending”, yet Mr Varley said the current emergency situation would hamper the delivery of these programs.

“Our prison system is at capacity, it’s stretched, that means we’re not able to provide all of the services that we’d like to — that’s just a fact of life,” Mr Varley said.

“Pure numbers and pure math will tell you we need to prioritise our resources to best effect.”

Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley and Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley on Monday December 30. Picture: Zizi Averill

Mr Maley said the Corrections Infrastructure Masterplan would address the “absolute mess” of prison infrastructure left by the former government, with the overflow prison populations taking over police watch houses.

He said over the next three months the Berrimah prison would increase its capacity to 200 prisoners, while the Alice Springs youth detention centre would be turned into a women’s prison.

Despite concerns about moving Central Australian children more than 1500km away from family, legal representatives and services, Mr Maley and Mr Varley defended sending all young people to the Darwin facility.

Mr Varley said audio and video calls meant lawyers and family could still contact Central Australian young people in the Top End children’s prison.

“Having one primary youth detention facility for the Northern Territory is not an unusual model,” Mr Varley said.