Recommendation 1
Cease the practice of compelling women to sleep on floors.
Recommendation 2
As part of Bandyup’s review of its hierarchical system of prisoner management, develop and implement a strategy which results in Aboriginal women being proportionately represented in the more desirable accommodation areas of the women’s estate.
Recommendation 3
Invest in contemporary accommodation and service delivery infrastructure at Bandyup, including a replacement social visits centre.
Recommendation 4
Commit dedicated resources to the task of driving the Department’s strategic direction of women’s corrective services.
Recommendation 5
Develop a funding model which recognises the unique needs and demands of women’s custodial management.
Recommendation 6
Implement a staff attendance management policy.
Recommendation 7
(a) Review PD 41 as a whole. (b) Revise the sections of PD 41 dealing with assaults to ensure that all serious assaults are covered. (c) Ensure that all officers receive training in the scope, meaning, and implications of PD 41, and in the need for comprehensive incident reporting.
Recommendation 8
Improve communication strategies with the VSO group.
Recommendation 9
Ensure all existing and prospective staff complete the Working with Female Offenders course as a condition of their employment at Bandyup.
Recommendation 10
Ensure that staff have
(a) sufficient, appropriate and functional work spaces and equipment to effectively and efficiently carry out their roles; and
(b) sufficient and functional rest and recreational facilities.
Recommendation 11
Ensure the safety system at Bandyup is known and used by all staff, and is effective in minimising risk, ensuring remedial follow-up, and identifying opportunities for prevention and improvement.
Recommendation 12
Consistent with Women’s Way Forward, adopt an integrated case management model which will enable consistent assessment of women’s welfare needs and planning for individualised and appropriate service delivery.
Recommendation 13
Provide Indigenous-specific treatment programs for female prisoners at Bandyup.
Recommendation 14
In the absence of high need violent offending and sex offending treatment programs for women, offer individual counselling to assist prisoners to address their offending behaviour.
Recommendation 15
Secure a permanent dedicated position that coordinates the organisation of the structured day.
Recommendation 16
Secure the reclassification of the Aboriginal Education Worker position to a level which will attract and retain high quality applicants – and recruit as a matter of urgency.
Recommendation 17
Provide access to Department owned computers for personal, legal and educational purposes and ensure their availability in the evenings and on weekends.
Recommendation 18
Provide a regular Department sponsored transport service to Bandyup for social visitors.
Recommendation 19
Ensure appropriate and sufficient accommodation to meet the needs of pregnant women and the demand for children to reside with their mothers.
Recommendation 20
Extend eligibility for day stays to ‘significant’ children to enable grandmothers or other significant women in a child’s life to be able to develop and maintain such relationships.
Recommendation 21
Provide equipment, extraction training, and a rapid response capacity for the use of razor wire, or provide alternative security measures.
Recommendation 22
Ensure Bandyup prisoners are provided with their legal entitlements in respect of access to legal resources and assistance to research their cases.
Recommendation 23
Provide both a canteen and a town spend service and ensure that the range of goods available reflects women’s needs.
Recommendation 24
Ensure that all prisoners are provided with a food hygiene course as part of their orientation at Bandyup.
Recommendation 25
Implement a healthy lifestyle program involving all major service areas at the prison.
Recommendation 26
Develop a health staffing model that
(1) is based on prisoners’ evidenced health needs;
(2) reflects the cultural diversity of the prisoner population;
(3) enables comprehensive health care delivery, including acute care, preventive care, health promotion, and re-entry planning;
(4) enables appropriate and effective portfolio management of care;
(5) promotes employee loyalty and continuity;
(6) provides relevant, comprehensive and ongoing professional development, support and supervision; and
(7) encourages links with other health care organisations.
Recommendation 27
Recruit Aboriginal Health Workers.
Recommendation 28
Undertake a program of team development for all health care and custodial staff who work in health services with a view to creating a culture of joint working in which care and custody have equal influence over operations.
Recommendation 29
Review and revise assessment and care planning tools to ensure that they are gender-based and culturally appropriate, and facilitate more comprehensive identification of and support for health issues.
Recommendation 30
Review and revise pharmacy services and medication administration processes to better provide for prisoners’ evidenced needs. Outcomes should include 24-hour pharmacy coverage; flexibility in prescribing, dispensing and administration processes; and compliance with prescribing guidelines.
Recommendation 31
Review and revise resourcing for dentistry at Bandyup to ensure that service provision reflects prisoners’ evidenced needs; that preventative care can be routinely provided as part of the suite of services; that facilities for the reading of digital X-rays are available; and that quality monitoring processes are integral to service provision.
Recommendation 32
Develop a dedicated mental health unit for women prisoners, which is managed by a multi-disciplinary team of clinical/allied health staff, supported by custodial staff who are trained in mental health.
Recommendation 33
Provide 24-hour mental health nursing coverage, and psychiatrist and therapy input sufficient to meet prisoners’ evidenced needs.