The resulting  inspection report made the following 17 recommendations relating to the pre-release unit facility and the main medium security facility at Bunbury Regional Prison:

  1. Ensure adequate relief coverage for all staff teams.
  2. At all prisons and throughout the Department, implement processes to embed the values and goals of the new Strategic Plan, including its focus on respect, reintegration and substantive equality.
  3. The Department should provide regular Senior Officer leadership and management training at all prisons.
  4. Bunbury Prison should implement Senior Officer team meetings.
  5. Provide dedicated staffing to support OS&H management at Bunbury.
  6. Replace Unit One with appropriate, contemporary accommodation that meets the security, safety, and personal needs of the different groups of prisoners held there.
  7. Develop and implement improved processes for the current gatehouse, control room and sally port, to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of Bunbury’s procedural security.
  8. Undertake infrastructure improvements to the gatehouse, control room, sally port and security office to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of Bunbury’s physical security.
  9. Increase the range and frequency of recreational options at Bunbury, including the provision of external activities for PRU prisoners and opportunities for prisoners to gain formal recreation qualifications.
  10. Recruit an Aboriginal Health Worker for Bunbury Regional Prison.
  11. Make legislative change or implement administrative arrangements to ensure that all life sentence and indeterminate sentence prisoners can apply to the Prisoners Review Board for inclusion in a re-socialisation or equivalent program.
  12. Ensure that Vocational Support Officers focus on their core responsibilities by ceasing to deploy them into custodial roles.
  13. Bunbury to develop and implement a reintegration services plan with targets and performance measures.
  14. Bring the Bunbury Pre-Release Unit within the remit of the Assistant Commissioner Re-entry and Services.
  15. Establish the Pre-Release Unit as a stand-alone facility with its own management, staffing, budget, and performance measures.
  16. For as long as the Pre-Release Unit remains an adjunct of the main Bunbury facility, staff it with a dedicated roster, achieved through expression of interest.
  17. Ensure that section 95 staffing levels are consistently sufficient for the number of prisoners eligible for external activities.

 

Page last updated: August 10, 2015