State prisons the fullest in over decade

TASMANIA’S prisons are operating at their highest capacity in more than a decade but a union says they could be even fuller than official figures suggest.

The Tasmania Prison Service told the Mercury that the jail system was 94 cent per cent full.

When compared to figures from the Production Commission’s Report on Government Services, this is the highest it has been since 2005-06.

In that year, the prison system was operating at 95 per cent capacity.

However, Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Tom Lynch believed the real figure was higher.

He said the prison counted cells that were not operational which had the effect of increasing capacity on paper.

“The prison does this thing where they talk about it at 94 per cent capacity but they count cells which are unserviceable,” he said.

“They’re really at over 100 per cent of capacity but they play games with the numbers.”

The Tasmania Prison Service did not directly challenge the claim when it was put to it.

“The TPS calculates prison capacity in accordance with nationally agreed counting rules” a spokeswoman said.

“At the 12th September 2017, the Tasmania Prison Service is at 94 per cent capacity.”

The TPS is seeking to increase capacity by spending $5 million over the next three years on 40 extra cells in minimum security and four new independent living units for pre-release prisoners.

But Mr Lynch said the highest pressures were in other parts of the prison system.

“Their real problem is the other end, it’s in maximum security where they ... have 122 inmates in a unit that had a capacity of 84,” he said.

“Medium is also pretty close to chockers.”

The TPS is bringing in an external consultant to review rostering and shift issues to tackle understaffing issues.

Tensions are high within the prison system because of a combination of factors including overcrowding, understaffing, lockdowns and phasing out of nicotine patches.