Image of tubular bunks in women's cell at Roebourne Regional Prison

Background

Roebourne Regional Prison opened in 1984 as a minimum-security prison. It was upgraded to a medium-security facility in 1995. Roebourne has frequently drawn the attention of this Office since we began operations in 1999, and been inspected more often than any other facility in Western Australia, having been subject to eight previous inspections. The last …

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Image of notes on a whiteboard at Roebourne Regional Prison

Conclusion

Roebourne Regional Prison was showing noticeable signs of improvement in many aspects of its operations. Much of the credit seems to rest with having a stable management team who engage positively with staff and prisoners. That said, credit must also go to the staff, who appeared to have a positive attitude and a willingness to …

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Image of visits lawn & fruit plantation at Work Camp

Key Findings

We were struck by the positive attitude of staff and prisoners at Roebourne, and found a general improvement in conditions and services. However, there was still room for improvement in a number of areas. ENABLERS Resources issues influencing service delivery and prison performance included: A new, well regarded, leadership team was leading by example. But …

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Recommendations

1: Establish the position of Assistant Superintendent Offender Services. 2: Improve drug detection capabilities at Roebourne Regional Prison. 3: Address identified infrastructure deficiencies in reception. 4: Further improve the induction, orientation and welfare support for new prisoners. 5: Refurbish the maximum-security yard and day room, and the cells in the women’s and maximum-security yards. 6: …

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