Pardelup Prison Farm is a minimum-security facility for male prisoners, with a focus on preparing them to re-enter the community. It is the only prison in Western Australia without a secure perimeter fence, and the only prison in which all prisoners are housed in single cells.
The prison compound is located on 2,600 hectares of land. Orchards and market gardens supply produce to the prison system statewide, and the farm operation focuses on raising livestock for sale on the open market. At the time of our inspection, the farm was grazing 750 cattle and 2,900 sheep.
Pardelup was originally established in 1927 as an outpost of Fremantle Prison. Until 2002, Pardelup operated as a prison, holding a maximum of around 80 prisoners. In 2002, during a short-term drop in prisoner numbers, the Department of Justice downgraded the prison to a work camp, with a capacity of only 20 prisoners. When prisoner numbers rose again, Pardelup was expanded from a work camp to a prison farm with capacity for 96 prisoners (including 12 at Walpole Work Camp) in March 2010.