123: Inspection of Acacia Prison

Acacia opened in 2001 and was Western Australia’s first privately managed prison. Initially it was managed by Australasian Integration Management Services (AIMS), but Serco won the retendered bid to manage Acacia’s services in 2006. The government’s contract with Serco was for an initial period of five years, with options for two five-year contract renewals. Our …

We found that Acacia in 2018 was still operating well, despite a significant increase in its prisoner population over the preceding three years. Undoubtedly the biggest issue facing the prison’s management (Serco) was the uncertainty around whether they would still hold the contract to manage the prison after May 2021 when the contract expires. This …

The property store is becoming too small to store prisoners’ property and is also understaffed. Reception runs smoothly, but peer support should work out of the reception centre to provide early support to prisoners arriving at Acacia. There were hundreds of Individual Management Plans still outstanding which impacted prisoners, the prison and the community. Offender …

Recommendation 1 Provide appropriate resourcing in the property store. Recommendation 2 The Department must urgently address the backlog of initial IMP’s state wide. Recommendation 3 Serco fully commit to the lifers’ strategy and cease the cross-deployment of the LLOs. Recommendation 4 Put in place appropriate and adequate supports for the Indigenous Services Coordinator position. Recommendation …