110: Inspection of Casuarina Prison

Casuarina Prison (‘Casuarina’) is the state’s primary maximum-security prison for men. It is located approximately 35 kilometres south of Perth in the City of Kwinana. Casuarina provides specialist statewide services for the Western Australian prison population. It accommodates prisoners considered to be particularly dangerous and/or difficult to manage, as well as those assessed to be at …

Casuarina is meeting reasonable expectations in relation to security, and the safety of staff and prisoners. It is, however, over-stretched at almost every point. As a result, despite the best efforts of staff, it is not meeting expectations in relation to prisoner health and support, purposeful activity, rehabilitation or resettlement. Casuarina’s infrastructure and resourcing were …

Casuarina is an increasingly crowded, complex, and transient prison. The prisoner count increased by 20 per cent in 2015–2016 to around 950, and remand prisoners typically make up more than 40 per cent of the population. Prison infrastructure and resourcing are insufficient for present and future need. In particular, Casuarina does not have the resources …

Determine Casuarina’s future roles and resource it to fulfil those functions. Improve the timeliness of health screening of new prisoners and eliminate the backlog. Upgrade the health centre taking account of the determined future role of the prison. Increase the staffing at the health centre to meet current and future need. Evaluate current and future …