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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-09-04 Daily Xml
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Prison Security

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:15): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services questions regarding her comment on the funding to provide security upgrades in our prisons.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: On 20 July 2025, The Advertiser reported that ex-inmates claim they made enough money from the prison black market to walk out with a house deposit, that is, selling cigarettes for up to $50 each and pouches for over $1,000. The minister responded to a question about the Remand Centre on Tuesday 2 September. She stated, and I quote:

At the last budget we committed a substantial amount of funding to provide security upgrades in our prisons that could look at not only perimeter fencing but also the screening of people in our prisons to make sure that we are keeping contraband out.

My questions to the minister are:

1. How can you claim that your record investment in prison security is working, or has made any real difference, when this level of contraband is still flooding in?

2. Are taxpayers seriously expected to believe that increased funding is working when contraband is clearly flooding in and fuelling an underground economy behind bars?

3. Who is being held accountable for this failure?

4. Does the government accept any responsibility for what is happening under the watch of private operators like those at the Adelaide Remand Centre, or is this just another case of throwing taxpayer money at a problem without fixing it?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Autism, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:17): I appreciate the member's question and interest in this space. Obviously, the money that I suggested in regard to new body scanners and security measures, as highlighted, I believe, in my response—I will have to go back and have a look—was from the budget just been. I guess time will be needed to be able to implement those new investments.

We have also been able to invest in body scanners in our prisons prior to this, particularly at the Women's Prison, where we have seen significant changes not only for prisoners coming into the system but also the employees. I am sure everyone in this room can appreciate the challenges of strip searches—it is not a nice experience for anyone involved, but it also doesn't necessarily pick up items that are in spaces that you cannot see. These scanners can sometimes highlight those to people and make it a better experience for everyone involved.

From those experiences, the government took on that feedback and in the last budget was able to commit funding to see how we can expand on those body scanners or look at those perimeter offences that I mentioned in my last comments. I am also advised that there were more than 103,000 searches in 2023-24—a 14 per cent increase on the previous year and a 35 per cent increase from when the opposition was in government, resulting in nearly 1,600 contraband discoveries.

Obviously, when we are having more scans, when we are having more searches, we are providing the opportunity to make sure that our prisons can be safer not just for our prisoners but, more importantly, for the people who work in our prisons. I am sure people in this room can appreciate that our prisons are a unique work environment. It's not like most other work environments you go to. That's why we are trying to look at new ways to provide different security measures and what we can be doing differently.

It is really important that we are consulting on this as well. Again, it is not about just rushing out there and putting in these measures with this new budget money. We are making sure the support is going where it is needed. We are also working with correctional services to determine that. The state government is committed to a really strong focus on a secure prison system.

In correctional jurisdictions we see challenges not only in our state but also across the country in regard to how we can do things differently. I was lucky enough just recently to go to New South Wales with all the correctional ministers, where we were able to meet and talk through what we could be doing differently. This was a very informative meeting and one that I appreciated attending. It was my first as correctional minister, and I learned from other ministers who have been doing this a little bit longer than myself.

We know that we are carrying out more searches. When we do carry out those searches, we are also looking at ways to upgrade our security. I am advised that there is routine, targeted searching across all prisons, but there is also the opportunity to have searching in other places too.

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