81: Report of an Announced Inspection of Hakea Prison

Hakea Prison is the primary remand, receival and assessment prison for adult males in Western Australia. At the time of the 2009 inspection, Hakea was experiencing a ‘bottleneck’ of sentenced prisoners due to a lack of beds at other prisons. At that time, 45 per cent of its population was sentenced, whereas historically it had …

While Hakea is meeting satisfactory standards in most core areas, the negativity of many staff and the division between staff and management tended to obscure much of this good work and had impacted performance in some areas. Areas of good practice included management of prisoner movements, basic care, security, and management of at-risk prisoners. But many parts of the site faced serious …

The inspection found that despite significant infrastructure and resource constraints Hakea is meeting satisfactory standards in most core areas, including: Reception, placement, induction and orientation Identifying and managing prisoners who are at risk of self-harm Basic accommodation, food and care General health services Facilitating court appearances in person or by video Hosting both social and …

Recommendation 1 The Department of Corrective Services and the Department of the Attorney General commission comprehensive research into the factors driving the recent upward trend in remand numbers and identify whether any changes in law, policy or practice are desirable. Recommendation 2 The Department of Corrective Services work with the courts and the Department of …