‘Absurd’ prison mail law needs to change

The Department of Corrections is seeking further ‘‘urgent’’ law changes to the prisoner mail system after an independent review found a prohibition on copying mail was absurd.

The review, released yesterday with 13 recommendations, says deficiencies in the legislation and regulations governing letters were immediately apparent and advises that guards should have the power to read, copy and store mail for intelligence gathering.

It follows the revelation that a letter written by the mosque attack accused was mailed and later posted on an online messaging board popular with white supremacists.

Following the blunder, Corrections asked the Government for more powers to block mail in and out of prison and in October, a law change was made to give the powers to prison guards.

At the time, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said there was not enough mail scrutiny and the process was not robust enough.

Under the current law, Corrections officers could not copy mail for intelligence, which obstructed investigations and that needed to change, he said.

The review, by barrister Miriam Dean QC and former top police boss Grant O’Fee, found regulations around copying made it difficult for staff to consult others about withholding mail.

‘‘We consider the prohibition on copying mail is, to put it bluntly, absurd. Legislation in New South Wales, Sweden and Finland permits copying of mail in certain circumstances or with appropriate restrictions,’’ the review says. It thwarted effective intelligence-gathering efforts and the review recommended the law should be amended to give Corrections explicit powers to allow for this.

The review found mail between prisoners also needed attention. Other issues were the sheer volume, the high proportion of gang ‘‘jail mail’’ and the heavily sexual nature of a lot of mail. Victims were also receiving mail because of poor reviewing processes and/or interagency information-sharing obstacles, while foreign mail was passed on without being translated. Corrections chief executive Christine Stevenson said about 15,000 items of mail were sent to and from prisoners each week and it was a fine balance to meet prisoners’ statutory entitlements, while mitigating the potential risks posed by prisoners, she said.