WA justice system ‘in crisis’, says Greens MLC

Western Australia’s prisons are in crisis and, without changes, are going to explode, WA Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt has claimed.

Dr Pettitt, who reacting to a statement from the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services, said conditions at Hakea and Casuarina Prisons had worsened since the last inspection took place in May 2024.

“In response to questions I asked in Parliament throughout the second half of last year it is clear that conditions in Western Australia’s prisons are in crisis and getting worse.

“We have seen the WA Government fail young people through its mismanagement of the youth justice system, and now we are seeing this mismanagement flowing through to the adult prison system too.

“Prisoners are being locked down for 22 hours a day and given almost no access to outside areas and fresh air, often triple-bunking in cells that were originally designed for a single occupant.

“As the Inspector of Custodial Services, Mr Eamon Ryan, states: ‘…prisoners at Hakea were being treated in a manner that was cruel, inhuman, or degrading.’

“WA prisons are experiencing third-world conditions, despite Western Australia’s wealth, leading to a failure of rehabilitation; a cost that the whole community will have to bear in the years ahead.

“There can be no more excuses in the 42nd Parliament for the atrocious state of WA’s justice system; It is time for the WA Labor Government to get serious about funding programs that keep people out of prison, not in perpetual lock down, because jailing is failing.”