Administration of South Australia’s Prisons

Committee Details

30/11/2016
53rd Parliament 06/05/2014 - 17/02/2018
Report tabled 14 November 2017

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.
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Acknowledgement of Country

The Parliament of South Australia acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional owners of this country throughout Australia, and their connection to land and community. We pay our respect to them and their cultures and to the Elders both past and present.