CORRECTIVE SERVICES — SMOKING BAN
834. Hon JAMES HAYWARD to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Corrective Services:
I refer to prison guard staffing
levels and the plan to ban smoking in Western Australian correctional
facilities.
(1) Do any WA correctional
facilities currently have staffing shortages?
(2) If yes to (1), how many
additional staff are needed at each facility?
(3) Has the
minister been made aware of concerns from prison guards that the scheduled ban
on smoking in WA correctional facilities, combined with current levels of
understaffing, could put them at increased danger when performing their duties?
(4) Will the
minister postpone the implementation of the smoking ban in some correctional
facilities until staffing vacancies are filled?
Hon
MATTHEW SWINBOURN replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question. The following information has been provided to me by the
Minister for Corrective Services.
(1) For security
reasons, specific staffing numbers are not publicly provided. Staffing levels
are agreed for all prisons to cater for full prisoner populations. I will
provide vacancy rates for custodial prison officers and prisoner populations at
each prison as at 31 August 2022. This is a table, so I seek leave to have the
table incorporated into Hansard.
[Leave
granted for the following material to be incorporated.]
|
�
|
Vacancy Rate
|
Prisoner Population below
capacity
|
|
ALBANY REGIONAL PRISON
|
8%
|
34%
|
|
BANDYUP WOMEN'S
PRISON
|
9%
|
29%
|
|
BORONIA PRE-RELEASE CENTRE
|
3%
|
18%
|
|
BROOME REGIONAL PRISON
|
19%
|
29%
|
|
BUNBURY REGIONAL PRISON
|
3%
|
14%
|
|
CASUARINA PRISON
|
3%
|
25%
|
|
EASTERN GOLDFIELDS
|
11%
|
31%
|
|
GREENOUGH
|
2%
|
40%
|
|
KARNET PRISON FARM
|
12%
|
17%
|
|
MELALEUCA REMAND &
REINTEGRATION
|
7%
|
35%
|
|
PARDELUP PRISON & FARM
|
2%
|
5%
|
|
ROEBOURNE PRISON
|
12%
|
3%
|
|
WANDOO REINTEGRATION FACILITY
|
5%
|
27%
|
|
WEST KIMBERLEY
|
12%
|
13%
|
|
WOOROLOO PRISON FARM
|
8%
|
28%
|
(2) If a prison
is short-staffed on any particular day, the prison routine is amended by the superintendent
and additional staff are available through the provision of overtime.
(3) A
jurisdictional scan has shown that the introduction of smoke-free prisons has
occurred across states with little disruption. The staged introduction will be
closely monitored for any issues that may arise, and these will be addressed in
a timely manner. The WA Prison Officers' Union supports the
introduction of smoke-free prisons.
(4) The WA
smoke-free correctional facility project has been carefully developed and drew
on input and lessons learnt from both Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions.
The schedule for site rollouts will be flexible and draw on lessons learnt from
previous sites, and will work through a logical program. The project time frame
will be determined to ensure the safety, welfare and effective operations of
the prisons.