Overcrowding, lockdowns, staff shortages and stress....welcome to the Tasmania Prison Service

A SURGE in Tasmania’s prison population is causing overcrowding in cells, daily lockdowns and morale problems among correctional officers and inmates, say staff and a union.

Risdon Prison.

A SURGE in Tasmania’s prison population is causing overcrowding in cells, daily lockdowns and morale problems among correctional officers and inmates, say staff and a union.

A prison officer said staff shortages were exacerbating the problems.

“The lockdowns are every day … in medium and maximum [security], mainly maximum,” said the officer, who did not want to be identified.

“That has a direct impact on the prisoners’ rehabilitation, what they can or can’t do, and it also massively increases the stress on staff.”

Since 2015-2016, the average number of inmates in the prison system has climbed

from 524 to more than 600.

The system is operating at 91 per cent capacity, the highest it has been in the past decade when compared with figures in the Productivity Commission Report on Government Services.

The State Government has committed to an extra 61 prison beds, but it could be years before they come online.

The spike in prisoner numbers means two inmates being put in a cell for one, and three into a cell designed for two.

The officer who did not want to be identified said inmates had taken to using milk crates as makeshift bed bases, but this was denied by the prison service.

“In maximum security, they are doubling when they need to — the mattress gets put straight on the floor,” the prison officer said.

The Justice Department said 14 beds had been installed in medium security and were moved in and out of maximum as needed.

Community and Public Sector Union secretary Tom Lynch said he hoped the doubling and tripling up in cells wasn’t “a long-term thing”.

“These are cells designed for one or two people, there’s no privacy in the toilet or anything like that,” he said.

“I don’t think that’s acceptable long-term.”

Mr Lynch said Risdon staff numbers had been “significantly below operational” levels at times in the past few weeks. “Unfortunately all of that coincided with numbers in the prison being very high.”

Inmates have been transferred to Risdon to reduce overcrowding in Launceston and Hobart reception prisons.

Mr Lynch said managing “association problems” with North and South rivalries was always an issue at Risdon but overcrowding made it harder and resulted in more lockdowns.

“That’s the only way you can keep the inmates in the same units apart. You don’t have any choice to put them anywhere else because everywhere else is full,” he said.

The department disputed this, saying lockdowns were an “essential operational tool”.

“Lockdowns can occur for a number of reasons, some of which are beyond the control of TPS staff,” a spokesman said.

“Lockdowns are … utilised to ensure a safe and secure prison environment for inmates, staff and visitors.”

Mr Lynch accused the Government’s tough-on-crime agenda for driving up the prison population. “We told the Government when they went down this path that they had insufficient space in Risdon and that needed to be part of their plan,” he said.

“It’s all fine having a law and order agenda but if you want to do it, you’ve got to [fund it].”

Acting Corrections Minister Guy Barnett said the Government made “no apologies” for being tough on crime and “ensuring criminals are behind bars as opposed to roaming the streets” and this was “in line with community expectations.”

The department said staffing had increased by 57.64 full-time equivalent jobs since 2014 and recent shortages were because of sick leave, workers compensation and prisoner-related matters such as unplanned medical escorts.

A recruitment drive is expected to result in more officers starting in December.

“Prisoner population fluctuates on a daily basis, however, similar to other jurisdictions across Australia, the population has been steadily increasing since February 2015,” Mr Barnett said.