Prison inspection reveals 'stark contrast' between two Kimberley facilities

An official inspection of two Kimberley jails has revealed a “stark contrast” between the two, with one of them stripping back prisoner services and support to “extremely concerning levels”.

Despite the cuts, Broome Regional Prison was the most expensive per capita in the State.

The Inspector of Custodial Services’ 2014 review found the West Kimberley Regional Prison was operating an innovative focused philosophy and achieving positive results. But Broome Regional Prison “had been left in the dark about its future and was flat and directionless”.

Inspector Neil Morgan said he was most impressed by his first inspection of West Kimberley Regional Prison (WKRP), which had been designed around a clear philosophy of managing and servicing its predominantly local, regional, and remote Aboriginal prisoner base.

Mr Morgan said in its first two years of operation, WKRP had established the ground work for providing high-quality services.

“WKRP enjoys good leadership and positive staff/prisoner relationships and respect,” he said.

“Prisoners are busy, engaging in skill-building activities and building self-confidence.”

He said the high level of respect shown to Aboriginal culture, and the opportunity for the prisoners to remain “in country” for their sentence, contributed significantly to these high levels of engagement and self-confidence.

Mr Morgan praised the prison’s staff to be proactive and highly engaged in their work, supportive of the aims and goals of the prison. He found this was due in part to the department’s policy of local recruitment and training.

The prison itself was a testament to good design practices, Mr Morgan said.

Despite being managed by the same superintendent, the inspector found the situation at Broome Regional Prison in stark contrast to WKRP.

The future of BRP was uncertain as far back as 2007 when it was decided to build a new prison in Derby.

Mr Morgan said that decision, allied to the fact that the main courts remained in Broome, called for advance planning and proactive engagement, which “did not happen”.

In response, the State Government announced that Broome would transition to closure at the end of 2015.

“The years of uncertainty have been bad for the prison, its staff, and other justice services in the region,” Mr Morgan said.

“In mid-2014, the universal feedback from stakeholders was that the department (Corrective Services) had still not engaged about future plans for the prison and how justice services would continue to be delivered to the courts, and others in Broome.”

He said the result of the decision to transition to closure was a severe downsizing in the prisoner population to mainly remand prisoners appearing in the Broome court and a small number of minimum-security prisoners who were required to keep the prison functioning.

“This resulted in a stripping back of services and supports to prisoners, in some areas to extremely concerning levels,” Mr Morgan said.

“Despite this, Broome is the most expensive prison per capita in the state.

“Staff have been hard hit in trying to anticipate where their futures lie, with many having established their homes and families in Broome.

They reported a total lack of communication from head office about their futures since the beginning of 2013, an intolerable situation.”

Mr Morgan believes a decision on the prison’s future was “finally imminent”.

“It makes sense for Broome to remain open but its decline over recent years has been depressing and damaging,” he said.

“If it is to remain open, the department will need to invest in building a new culture, revitalising its management and staffing, expanding its services, and upgrading the infrastructure.”

Mr Morgan said decisions regarding Broome must also form part of a plan to meet the justice needs of the entire Kimberley region.

“In addition to maximising the use of all custodial facilities, including the underused Wyndham Work Camp, this plan will need to incorporate transport, courts and community corrections,” he said.