168: Inspection of Casuarina Prison

Casuarina Prison (Casuarina) is a maximum-security facility for male prisoners. Opened in 1991 with a design capacity for 397 sentenced prisoners, the prison has changed in size and function significantly over the years. By 1998 the population had increased to 530 through double-bunking cells. A riot occurred on Christmas Day that year which resulted in …

Years of expansion had resulted in a complex, evolving, and overstretched facility Casuarina Prison (Casuarina) had undergone rapid and sustained expansion to manage population growth and an increasingly complex statewide role. While substantial infrastructure investment had delivered new accommodation and specialist facilities, measures such as triple bunking and repurposing units pressurised services, staffing, and disciplinary …

Recommendation 1 Develop and implement a comprehensive operational plan inclusive of managing Casuarina’s population growth and specialist functions. Recommendation 2 Increase the staffing profile to address current and future staffing requirements. Recommendation 3 Allocate targeted resources to support the growing remand population, ensuring their distinct needs are met. Recommendation 4 Fund video link streaming for …