Alice Springs prisoner caught after escaping ‘understaffed’ jail

A prisoner who jumped the fence of an unguarded area of the Alice Springs Correctional Centre was arrested about 20km from the town, as the union raises concerns about staffing levels.

Police have arrested a prisoner who escaped from the Alice Springs Correctional Centre after a section of the facility was left unguarded due to a staffing shortage.

It is understood the prisoner jumped the fence near cottages where low-risk offenders are remanded in custody about 2am Thursday.

United Workers Union NT branch secretary Erina Early said the area the prisoner escaped from was left unattended due to a staffing shortage which has been crippling the centre in recent months.

It is understood just six officers were on duty in the prison on Wednesday night – less than half of the minimum level of 13 required to manage 146 prisoners.

A prisoner escaped from the Alice Springs Correctional Centre after an area of the facility was left unattended due to a staffing shortage.

Police confirmed the prisoner, 30, had been arrested about 10.30am Thursday 20km south of Alice Springs Correctional Centre on the Stuart Hwy after he fled the facility on foot.

Assistant Commissioner Martin Dole said the prisoner was deemed not to be a risk to the general public.

“Our officers deployed swiftly to ensure he was remanded back into custody as quickly as possible,” Mr Dole said.

The cottages where the prisoner escaped typically house 16 people at any one time, with no staff guarding the area in recent weeks due to the lack of resources.

It is understood the Alice Springs Correctional Centre was more than 30 officers short of its required staffing level on Thursday.

The centre has been operating with between 15 and 20 correctional officers on duty during the day, with the minimum number required 38.

United Workers Union NT branch secretary Erina Early said the facility could not continue to operate at current staffing levels. Picture: Floss Adams

A correctional services spokesman said the work was underway to address increasing prisoner numbers in the Territory.

“NT Correctional Services is committed to increasing the number of correctional officers in our ranks,” he said.

“We acknowledge there is a staff shortage in custodial operations and we are working hard to recruit more officers to meet attrition rates and rising demand pressures.”

He said in 2022, 24 new correctional officers had started or completed training in Alice Springs, while 83 had taken up the job in Darwin.

It can take up to a year for a correctional officer to complete their training and work unsupervised.

Ms Early said prisoners at Alice Springs Correctional Centre were aware of how easy it was to escape the facility.

“It’s absolutely insane,” she said.

She said the government could not continue to operate the facility at the current staffing levels.

“There are minimum staffing levels we have to have,” she said.

Hundreds of correctional officers at Alice Springs Correctional Centre and Darwin Correctional Centre will walk off the job if a new pay deal isn’t inked by Monday. Picture: Lee Robinson

Ms Early said having the number of officers on duty at night time increased was a priority for the union.

“They have to fill those 13,” she said.

It comes as hundreds of correctional officers threatened to walk off the job by the end of the month if the union is unable to ink a new enterprise agreement by Monday.

As many as 200 officers will stop work at Alice Springs Correctional Facility and Darwin Correctional Facility if their demands for a six per cent per annum pay rise are not met.

Originally published as Alice Springs prisoner caught after escaping ‘understaffed’ jail