Inmate health at risk
Lockdowns cause havoc
SERIOUS concerns for the mental health of inmates confined for days at a time in a spate of prison lockdowns have been sounded, as staffing shortages cause chaos inside the cells.
The alarm was raised by the partner of a male prisoner currently on remand at Risdon Prison in the state’s southeast.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the woman said lockdowns had plagued the centre since November.
She claimed five lockdowns had occurred in that time, each lasting several days, which left inmates confined to their cells without the ability to socialise, exercise or go outside.
“When they are locked down they are completely confined to the insides of their cells,” the woman said.
“And these boys, they are not asking for much, they’re asking for half a day to be out and get some exercise because of how small the rooms are.”
The lockdowns have impacted the Acacia and Blue Gum units in the centre.
There are currently 128 male inmates on remand at the Southern Remand Centre (SCC), which has a capacity of 156, and 17 correctional staff rostered to work at the centre.
The woman said that during phone calls with her partner, she could hear men “yelling and kicking” in frustration, and asking to be let out “for an hour”.
“At the end of the day they’re still human, they have human rights, and they don’t need to be treated like animals in a cage,” she said.
“Their mental health, as it is, is on a ledge, and the way they’re doing it now, putting those boys for four days straight of lockdowns in a cell with no communication with prisoners or anything like that, it is literally tipping them over the edge.”
Prisoners Legal Service chair Greg Barns SC branded the lockdowns as “inhumane”, saying they amounted to “solitary confinement”.
“We have had concerns for a couple of years now about the extent of the use of lockdowns within the Tasmanian prison system,” Mr Barns said.
“We are getting contact from partners and family members (who are) very concerned because of the lockdowns and they’re not able to see the prisoners, but also we’re having professional visitations and rehabilitation contact also cancelled.”
He said a lack of accommodation for people on remand and parole was contributing to high prison numbers.
A Tasmania Prison Service spokeswoman said the SRC had experienced “some partial lockdowns” in January, which she attributed to staffing challenges, and admitted to other lockdowns in the past year due to Covid.
Justice Reform Initiative Tasmania campaign co-ordinator Patrick Burton questioned why a remand centre would be built if it could not be supported.