BARWON PRISON DRUG TESTS SHOCK:

BARWON Prison inmates are returning positive drug tests at a rate higher than any other Victorian prison, latest figures reveal.

More than one in 10 random drugs tests are returning positive results at the maximum-security Lara prison, which has failed to meet its testing targets in all but three of the 12 months to March, according to Corrections Victoria’s latest Drugs in Prisons Report.

The prison is the worst performing of all 17 locations in the report, with 11.16 per cent of random tests returning positive results this financial year.

Since July 2016, the prison has failed to meet testing targets of acceptable levels of positive prisoner drug tests in 34 of the 51 months, and is yet to record an annual result lower than its benchmark — which was increased from 7.25 to 8 per cent in 2018.

The prison’s drug woes are largely due to cheap prescription opiate buprenorphine, a widely available heroin replacement, which was identified in 203 tests in the nine months to March, compared with the next highest results for methadone in just six.

Victorian shadow corrections minister David Southwick said the prison was losing its battle against drugs.

“When Victoria’s highest security prison also has the largest amount of illegal drugs in the state, it’s clear just how broken Victoria’s corrections system is under Daniel Andrews,” Mr Southwick said.

Barwon Prison inmates are also being found with contraband items, drugs and homemade booze, with more than 124 litres of home brew and alcohol seized in the nine months to March, along with 129 edged weapons, about 20g of crystal and powder substances and almost 100 hits of buprenorphine.