Department condemns prison service to death sentence with paltry wages offer

The WA Prison Officers’ Union (WAPOU) has met with the Department of Justice today to formally reject the government’s wage offer, which fell well short of what members had endorsed and was below what the wider public sector had just accepted.

WAPOU had been seeking a 12 per cent pay increase over two years as well as several critical amendments to the Industrial Agreement, which would improve safety and conditions for prison officers, help address the issues for regional staff and would help with officer retention. 

The department’s offer, which was received last week, ignored the improvements to conditions and did not meet the wages increase WAPOU had been seeking.

WA Prison Officers’ Union Secretary Andy Smith said the offer was disappointing and showed the department’s lack of commitment to addressing the understaffing crisis across WA’s prisons.

“It is a fact that prisons across Western Australia are understaffed and over muster,” he said.

“This situation has been allowed to develop because the department has not done enough to recruit new prison officers and to retain those that are already working in the system. Instead, conditions have been allowed to worsen, making an already difficult job even more stressful for existing officers and even less attractive for those considering starting a career as a prison officer.” 

Mr Smith said the number of officers leaving the job had tripled in the last few years, reaching as high as 16 a month, with no way for the department to effectively replace officers as quickly as they were required.

“A prison is already a dangerous place, but an understaffed prison can become so dangerous that lockdowns are required,” he said.

“More lockdowns lead to greater prisoner frustration, which in turn can lead to more serious incidents including assaults on staff and other prisoners, self-harming incidents, riots and even deaths.

“We are already seeing an unprecedented number of self-harming incidents. Hakea Prison has recorded five deaths in custody in just the last 10 months.

“We are also now facing a situation where offenders are being released on bail, when they should be on remand, because there isn’t enough capacity in the system to keep them locked up. We’ve already seen judges decline to give young offenders custodial sentences because of the conditions at Banksia Hill and with the state of WA’s prisons, it is not hard to imagine that judges will soon be doing the same in the case of adult offenders.” 

WAPOU will continue to push for better conditions for its members and urge the department to address the understaffing crisis.

MEDIA CONTACT: Amy Blom amy@regenstrategic.com.au 0431 685 372