155: Inspection of Melaleuca Women’s Prison

In 2014 the Department of Justice (the Department) announced that Units 11 and 12 of Hakea would be re-purposed into a 256-bed, maximum-security, remand and reintegration facility for women. This became the Melaleuca Remand and Reintegration Facility. Melaleuca began life as a male facility, spent some time as a youth detention centre, and was then …

Melaleuca’s journey has been tenuous and privatisation was precarious Melaleuca Women’s Prison (Melaleuca) did not start out as a women’s prison. Its origin was two accommodation units attached to Hakea Prison (Hakea). The facility has also been used to accommodate young people. It is not a fit for purpose women’s prison. The prison commenced operations …

Melaleuca Women’s Prison (Melaleuca) started life as two accommodation units attached to Hakea Prison – Units 11 and 12. Increasing crowding in the women’s estate led to these two units being redesignated for female prisoners, with some, albeit limited, infrastructure added to make it a standalone facility. The prison commenced operations on 15 December 2016 …

Recommendation 1 Review infrastructure needs at Melaleuca and commit resources to address identified deficiencies. Recommendation 2 Introduce an electronic system for prisoners to manage their own requests, similar to the CMS that was previously in place. Recommendation 3 Develop clear communication strategies between head office, local management and staff. Recommendation 4 Develop clear guidelines for …