102: Report of an Announced Inspection of Hakea Prison

The 2012 inspection had found a prison under pressure but ‘identified many examples where staff, in their own work areas, were getting on the job in a pragmatic and resourceful way, sometimes in the face of significant infrastructure challenges’. However, it also noted that the prison had long suffered from a negative and divided workplace …

In late July/early August 2015, the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services conducted its sixth inspection of Hakea Prison, the metropolitan remand and receival centre for men established in 2000. Hakea is a prison under enormous stress and pressure and we see little on the horizon to suggest that this situation is likely to change …

Recommendation 1:       The WA Government and the Department of Corrective Services prioritise and fund the construction of a new purpose-built remand facility for the Perth metropolitan area that incorporates aspects of design that will facilitate best practice and technology in remand prisons, and meet international obligations with regard to meeting the rights of unconvicted persons …

Hakea remains a complex facility in which considerable expertise and commitment is demonstrated by staff at all levels in caring for people with many human needs and managing many problems and behaviours. However, staff were overly focused on the negatives, especially in relation to management. Management, which had turned over three times in three years, …