Committee Function
A Select Committee of the Legislative Council has been established to inquire into the Government’s administration of South Australia’s Prisons with particular reference to –
(a) The costs and impacts (upon prison officers, prisoners and the South Australian community) of the combined prison system operating continually above approved capacity;
(b) The Government’s forecasted prison capacity in relation to its forecasted prisoner population;
(c) The correlation, if any, between prison overcrowding and the breakdown in proper administration of prisons;
(d) The following incidents which occurred between July and October 2016:
(i) A prisoner given leave to attend a funeral but was prevented from re-entering the Yatala Labour Prison at the appointed time;
(ii) A prisoner convicted of murder and rape was allowed to umpire an amateur football match;
(iii) Two prisoners were able to tunnel under a prison fence and gain access to a prohibited area at Port Augusta Prison, then start a truck with the intention of driving it through a perimeter fence and, when noticed, held officers at bay within the prohibited area for four hours;
(iv) A prisoner has died and three prison officers hospitalised following a violent altercation at Yatala Labour Prison;
(v) A prisoner convicted of murder disappeared from a Corrections supervisor;
(vi) The recent seven hour siege at Port Augusta Prison; and
(e) Any other relevant matter.