R EPORT OF AN A NNOUNCED I NSPECTION OF R OEBOURNE Report No.24 October 2004 R EGIONAL OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR OF CUSTODIAL SERVICES P RISON REPORT OF AN ANNOUNCED INSPECTION OF ROEBOURNE REGIONAL PRISON www.custodialinspector.wa.gov.au REPORT 24 REPORT Level 27, 197 St George’s Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, Australia 6000 Telephone:+61 8 9212 6200 Facsimile: +61 8 9226 4616 Report of an Announced Inspection of Roebourne Regional Prison, October 2004 Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services Level 27,197 St George’s Terrace,Perth WA 6000 www.custodialinspector.wa.gov.au October 2004 ISSN 1445-3134 This document uses environmentally friendly paper, comprising 50% recycled & 50% totally chlorine free plantation pulp. Contents THE INSPECTOR’S PREFACE: THE CHALLENGE OF MAKING PRISON INSPECTION EFFECTIVE AND THE OPPORTUNITY PROVIDED BY THE SECOND PHASE OF INSPECTIONS......................iii Measuring progress at Roebourne Regional Prison.............................................................................iii The statutory responsibility of the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services.................................iv Identifying current performance: progress from baseline and newly emerging issues...........................v The template for future Inspection Reports ..........................................................................................v Policy matters ........................................................................................................................................vi CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF ROEBOURNE REGIONAL PRISON ..........................................................1 CHAPTER 2 CUSTODY AND CONTAINMENT ................................................................................3 Security Ratings and their impact on Prisoner Services ........................................................................3 The Classification System.......................................................................................................................4 Emergency Management........................................................................................................................7 Special-purpose Cells ...........................................................................................................................10 CHAPTER 3 CARE AND WELLBEING.....................................................................................................12 Induction and Orientation ...................................................................................................................12 Case Management ................................................................................................................................13 Aboriginal Prisoners.............................................................................................................................14 Women Prisoners .................................................................................................................................18 Other Special Needs Prisoners.............................................................................................................20 Climate Control ...................................................................................................................................22 Health Services.....................................................................................................................................23 Visits .....................................................................................................................................................25 Grievance and Complaints ...................................................................................................................27 CHAPTER 4 REHABILITATION ..............................................................................................................30 Offending Behaviour............................................................................................................................30 REPORT OF AN ANNOUNCED INSPECTION OF ROEBOURNE REGIONAL PRISON i Drugs and Alcohol................................................................................................................................31 Educational Services.............................................................................................................................32 Community Re-entry Strategies ..........................................................................................................33 CHAPTER 5 REPARATION......................................................................................................................36 Employment .........................................................................................................................................36 CHAPTER 6 RESOURCES AND SYSTEMS..............................................................................................42 Human Resource Management ...........................................................................................................42 Summary of Resources and Systems Already Identified ......................................................................44 A Comprehensive Plan .........................................................................................................................44 CHAPTER 7 STRATEGIC PLANNING,THE DEPARTMENT AND THE PILBARA.................................46 Long-term View of the Pilbara .............................................................................................................46 Medium-term View ..............................................................................................................................47 CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................49 Recommendations ...............................................................................................................................49 APPENDIX 1 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RESPONSE TO THE 2004 RECOMMENDATIONS ..............52 APPENDIX 2 SCORE CARD .....................................................................................................................61 APPENDIX 3 THE MONITORING FRAMEWORK FOR THE 2004 RECOMMENDATIONS .................64 APPENDIX 4 INSPECTION TEAM ............................................................................................................65 ii REPORT OF AN ANNOUNCED INSPECTION OF ROEBOURNE REGIONAL PRISON The Inspector’s Preface THE CHALLENGE OF MAKING PRISON INSPECTION EFFECTIVE AND THE OPPORTUNITY PROVIDED BY THE SECOND PHASE OF INSPECTIONS MEASURING PROGRESS AT ROEBOURNE REGIONAL PRISON The Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services was established in mid-2000.With regard to prisons, its statutory remit and obligation is to inspect each Western Australian prison at least once every three years.That obligation had been met by May 2003 with the inspection of Greenough Regional Prison. By that time two prisons – the Special Handling Unit at Casuarina Prison and the Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison – had also been re-inspected; however, each of these inspections was in some sense ‘abnormal’ in that they were follow up inspections to initial unannounced inspections. Roebourne Regional Prison was the first to be re-inspected as part of the scheduled inspection cycle. Having said that, it should be noted that the second phase announced inspection of Roebourne Prison was accelerated; that is, it took place within a shorter period than the normal three-year cycle.The previous inspection had, in fact, occurred in April 2002, but at that time the prison regime and the quality of the services were of such concern to this Office that the Department of Justice was put on notice that the next announced inspection would take place in approximately 18 months’ time. In the event, the re-inspection occurred 19 months later, in November 2003.The hope and expectation had been that this preliminary notice would serve two purposes: first, to indicate the Inspector’s view of the urgency of commencing major improvements; second, to provide the lapse of a sufficient period of time to enable the Department and the prison to realistically address some or all of the identified problems. With the commencement of the second cycle of inspections, the time was apposite to re-think the approach that would be taken to future inspections.The first cycle involved identifying baselines in relation to particular prisons and, by implication, in relation to prison services generally. Establishing baselines inevitably involves paying a considerable amount of attention to operational detail.Thus, even though from the outset it has been the philosophy of this Office that recommendations should be reasonably strategic rather than operationally specific, concentrating more on outcomes than processes, nevertheless the identification of operational deficiencies and the making of recommendations in relation to these has inevitably and properly been an aspect of the modus operandi. The Department of Justice, for its part, has responded frankly and openly to previous recommendations by indicating in its various Action Plans its agreement or disagreement and its intended response. In this regard, the in principle acceptance of our recommendations has been extremely high – running at more than 90 per cent overall – and this would in itself seem to be indicative of the value of the inspection process. Of course, it was