111: Inspection of Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison - Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services

Image of the Unit 2 Dayroom, with tables, chairs, sofas and a ping pong table

Background

This was the sixth Announced Inspection of the Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison (‘Eastern Goldfields’), but the first since the commissioning of the new facility. The old Eastern Goldfields, built in 1980, had been found unfit for purpose since inspections had commenced in 2000. The new prison opened in August 2016, seven years after funding was …

Image of prisoners on a basketball court, outside recreation

Key Findings

Planning for the new Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison (‘Eastern Goldfields’) began in 2009. To reduce cost, Cabinet approved delivery as a Public Private Partnership, to be designed, built, financed and maintained by the private sector, but operated by the State. The prison opened 13 months behind schedule, in August 2016. Some operational procedures were not …

image of inside visits area, looking through the windows to the outside visits area also. Table and seating.

Recommendations

The report of an Announced Inspection of Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison contained the following recommendations: Install privacy screens where required to prevent prisoners seeing out and members of the public seeing in. Follow gatehouse searching procedures. The Department should monitor developments in non-invasive solutions for detection of contraband in prisons, and introduce them when appropriate …

Image of Unit 3, outside entrance with fence and gate.

Conclusion

The new Eastern Goldfields prison is a world-class, state of the art facility. It balances modern security technology with excellent design for service delivery to the majority Aboriginal prisoners. The three male accommodation units inside the secure perimeter allow hierarchical progression from maximum to minimum security, and a pre-release minimum-security unit for men is located …