STATEWIDE PRISON LOCKDOWN SENDS MESSAGE | Public Sector Review | August 2023

On 11 April, all South Australian prisons were locked down in response to government inaction over safe staffing.

PSA Correctional Officer members took the action after repeatedly having their concerns ignored by Department for Correctional Services (DCS) executive and the Minister for Correctional Services.

Our members do not lock down prisons lightly. This action showed how serious our members’ concerns are, and reflected the sheer frustration they felt,

PSA General Secretary Natasha Brown said.

Since the State Labor government came to power last year, the PSA has been calling on it to take decisive action on prison staffing and to fix the consequences of the harsh job-cutting agenda implemented by the previous Liberal government.

However, what we have seen so far indicates that the current government intends to maintain the previous government’s failed experiment and ignore the crisis in our prisons.

In 2018, the Liberal government embarked on its so-called ‘Better Prisons’ policy to restructure the way prisons operated in South Australia. This job-cutting policy included the failed privatisation of the Adelaide Remand Centre.

In applying the policy, DCS undertook a desktop assessment of roles required to operate our public prisons.

The entire process was ill-informed and destined to fail on delivering real world improvements in prison operations from its inception.

Ultimately, this was a job-cutting exercise that has seen a reduction in the efficiency and safety of operations in all South Australian prisons. It has also had a devastatingly negative impact on the workforce in terms of morale and workplace culture.

The PSA believes that with a modest reinstatement of some critical roles at each institution, South Australia’s prison system would operate more effectively, efficiently, and, most importantly, far more safely for Correctional Officers and the prisoners for whom they are responsible.

PSA representatives have consistently been putting the issues of concern to DCS over the past two years and communicated these matters to the current Minister from the day he was sworn in.

The PSA prepared a detailed “Safer Prisons” proposal, covering staffing needs across all South Australian prisons, and submitted it to the Minister for Correctional Services in December 2022 and again in March 2023.

The proposal was also tabled and discussed at meetings with DCS in February and March 2023.

This realistic, practical and achievable plan for better and safer prisons in South Australia is based on the vast and expert experience of our members who work in prisons every day,

Natasha Brown said.

When our state’s prisons are operating safely and efficiently, offenders are able to access appropriate rehabilitation opportunities, which are critical to reducing recidivism.

THE IMPACTS OF UNDERSTAFFING

• Unreasonable workloads and increased overtime

• Prisoner out-of-cell time regularly reduced

• Cancellation of prisoner education and work programs

• Prisoner drug testing backlogged or abandoned

• Untrained prison managers undertaking custodial work

• External contractors ( e.g. tradespeople) turned away due to staff escorts not being available

• Prisons regularly operating on “run short” policies

• Reduced opportunities for prisoners to engage in rehabilitation programs

• Commercial contracts not being fulfilled due to prisoner labour not being available.