The Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (the Office) is required by Section 19 of the Inspector of Custodial Services Act 2003 (WA) to inspect each Western Australian court custody centre and prescribed lock-up at least once every three years.

Court custody centres fall into the category of court security and custodial services and are governed by the Court Security and Custodial Services Act 1999 (WA) (the CS&CS Act). The Act defines a court custody centre as:

A part of court premises, other than the dock in the court –

  1. That is set aside as a place where persons in custody are detained; and
  2. That is not accessible to the members of the public without permission of the person in charge of the place.

Sentenced prisoners, peopled remanded in custody, or those arrested and charged with a crime may be held in court custody centres before appearing in court. Depending on the outcome of the court appearance, they are released to freedom or bail, transferred to a prison, or transferred to a lock-up managed by the Western Australia Police.

Eleven metropolitan courts have a court custody centre that fall within the Office’s inspection remit. Most regional courts do not have a custody centre and people are held in custody at the local police lock-up. They are then given into the custody of the court custodial services contractor for the duration of their court appearance.

Under Regulation 5 of the Court Security and Custodial Services Regulations 1999 (WA) the Albany Justice Complex, Carnarvon Police and Justice Complex, and the Kalgoorlie Police Complex have been prescribed as lock-ups and are therefore subject to inspection.

Contracted services

In Western Australia, most court custody centres are managed by private contractors under two main contracts. The first of these covers the court custody centres at the Central Law Courts (CLC) and the District Court Building (DCB), located in the Perth Central Business District (CBD). At the time of inspection, the CBD Courts Contract was managed by the Western Liberty Group Consortium (WLG) and a sub-contractor G4S Custodial Services Pty Ltd (G4S).

The second of these contracts, the Court Security and Custodial Services (CS&CS) contract, was managed by Ventia Services Group (Ventia). It covers the remaining metropolitan and regional court custody centres and includes the three regional prescribed lock-ups. It also covers the Fiona Stanley Hospital Secure Facility – this is not by definition a court custody centre and therefore not included as part of this inspection.

Given the specialist requirements regarding the handling of young people in custody, the court custody centre at the Perth Children’s Court is managed and operated by the Department of Justice (the Department). Ventia manage the general operation of the Perth Children’s Court including building security, reception, and administration.

Page last updated: May 14, 2025
160: Inspection of Court Custody Centres