Broome Regional Prison, Western Australia’s oldest operational prison, is scheduled for its ninth inspection by the Office in May 2025. Originally commissioned in 1945, the prison includes three accommodation blocks and administrative buildings centred around the ‘Bull Pen,’ a secure shed built in 1895.
Broome is a mixed-gender, minimum-security facility but also accommodates remand and sentenced prisoners across all security ratings. The population predominantly comprises First Nations men from the Kimberley region, with a small unit allocated for female prisoners but regularly repurposed particularly during periods where the population exceeds capacity.
Despite in 2005 the then-Inspector commenting that Broome ‘in its present configuration and role its remaining life span should not extend beyond the current decade’ (OICS 2005 – Report 27), little progress has been made toward a replacement. In 2025, the need to replace Broome with a modern and fit-for-purpose facility remains critical.
