PORT AUGUSTA PRISON

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Gambling, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (15:53): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: On 9 October 2008, 39 prisoners engaged in violent behaviour and took control of the Bluebush accommodation block and associated areas within the Port Augusta Prison. Following peaceful resolution of the event, the Department for Correctional Services commenced an immediate comprehensive investigation. The objective of this investigation was to identify issues relating to the management of the incident, as well as implementing possible improvements to operational practice and building infrastructure to prevent the recurrence of such an incident.

The investigation was undertaken by a senior investigator from the department's Intelligence and Investigations Unit, who was supported by a general manager from another prison and a senior advisor in Custodial Services, with further support from the Police Corrections Section of SAPOL.

Incidents such as the one at Port Augusta are serious and entirely regrettable but, unfortunately, at times they can be part of the operational reality in a high security prison. This is certainly not a mitigating factor, but incidents of this nature must be also considered in the context of the high risk that some offenders pose to the correctional system and the volatility of their behaviour.

I am pleased to say that the investigation has not only gone a lot further than merely dealing with the incident management but has also identified a comprehensive range of improvements to building infrastructure and emergency management protocols. I am also pleased to say that all these measures have started to be attended to, some as early as in the days following the incident. It is important that immediate action is taken where considered necessary to restore the operational capacity of the damaged areas and contribute to enhanced staff safety and, in doing so, the safety of our community.

A report of this nature contains highly sensitive information that goes to the heart of the security operation of our correctional system, and it would therefore be irresponsible and inappropriate to publicly outline the details. What I will outline, however, are some of the major findings of the investigation and some of the actions that have been taken as a consequence.

Overall, the incident was unprovoked, but it was clearly led by a small group of highly volatile and dangerous prisoners. It has been established that those prisoners were able to motivate the remaining prisoners to engage in destructive and violent behaviour. In the lead-up to the incident, Port Augusta Prison experienced a great deal of infrastructure upgrades that made daily routines more restrictive for prisoners. Until about August 2008, regular lockdowns occurred in the prison.

The general manager was successful in negotiating and implementing changes to those restrictions, but the changes still resulted in restricted regimes for high-security prisoners in cases where staff had to be reassigned for operational reasons during a shift. This occurred on the day of the incident, when staff had to supervise prisoners in the infirmary. As a result, the fortnightly session on the oval was cancelled for prisoners in Bluebush Unit. While again it should be stressed that this incident was unprovoked, the investigation established that the cancellation of the fortnightly exercise session was a factor that directly contributed to the incident.

During 2007-08, the government ran an aggressive recruitment campaign to attract new staff to prisons across South Australia. Since the major incident, 12 new staff members have been hired at Port Augusta Prison, and a further 10 will commence their training in March. Nevertheless, the government realises that there is still an ongoing issue of attracting staff to regional centres.

On the day of the incident, staff supervising the prisoners at the time had no option but to retreat to a safer area when the prisoners were able to break through a barrier of a food servery area adjacent to the accommodation unit. This necessitated remaining staff to retreat outside the inner secure section of the prison. Prisoners were able to be contained within that section during the entire incident, preventing it from spreading to other parts of the prison. The incident control was handed over to SAPOL, in accordance with established protocols between the two agencies. SAPOL staff were subsequently able to achieve a peaceful resolution.

The investigation identified a range of opportunities to strengthen the emergency management arrangements at Port Augusta Prison and to further augment the coordination of activities between responding emergency services agencies and the department. This work includes the regular testing and practising of emergency response procedures. The tests have now been stepped up, and every prison must run three exercises per month, two of which are practical tests of procedures and one can be a desktop exercise. In addition, contingency tests will also be undertaken in conjunction with other emergency services.

Since the incident, there have been significant additional upgrades to the physical infrastructure of the prison, totalling around $500,000. This includes the hardening of officer stations, doors and windows; the installation of additional cameras; the installation of bars to cell windows in Wattle, Spinifex and Sandalwood units; and the reinforcement of steel rods in ceilings. In most cases, that work has already been completed or commenced.

The Chief Executive of the department also approved a change to the prisoner mix in the high-security section of Port Augusta Prison. The Bluebush Unit will now house prisoners on protection, with mainstream prisoners being accommodated in Greenbush and Sandalwood units. This allows for an improved separation of low risk prisoners from those who are more volatile, and it will contribute to a greater level of stability without limiting the capacity of the prison to provide the necessary prisoner accommodation.

I am pleased to state that the first of the two units of Bluebush section of Port Augusta Prison was ready for full occupancy before Christmas 2008, and it is anticipated that the second unit will be available for use within the next three months, which will then see the completion of all the repair and building works in that part of the prison.

I am heartened to know that the management of the incident occurred in an exemplary way and that all agencies involved in the management of the incident cooperated well and contributed to the peaceful resolution. This has been a serious test of the ability of our correctional system to respond to spontaneous, volatile and reactive prisoner behaviour and, while I sincerely hope that there will never be a need to do this again, I am encouraged by the fact that the system was able to respond well.