Overcrowding, lockdowns, staff shortages and restricted access to programs were “significant” contributing factors to a major riot at the Darwin Correctional Centre in 2020, according to a newly released report.
Key points:
- A report found overcrowding and staff shortages contributed to the riot at the Darwin Correctional Centre in 2020
- It made a number of recommendations including more funding for staffing
- The NT Government has announced a new strategic plan partially in response to the recommendations
A redacted summary of a review into the riot, commissioned by the Northern Territory Corrections Commissioner in June 2020, and conducted by Dr John Paget, was made public by the NT Government on Friday.
According to the report, these factors were considered “distal” — or structural — to the riots which took place on the night of May 13, 2020.
“Where the distal factors combine to create a tense institutional climate, it only takes a small incident for individual prisoner feelings of frustration or sense of injustice to morph into collective disobedience or a riot,” Dr Paget stated in the report.
He said COVID-19 restrictions, which involved suspending family visits and inmates having to sleep in bunks and on mattresses on the floor to isolate, had also contributed to the riot.
He warned that if the “distal” factors were not addressed, the risk of further disturbances at the prison would remain.
It comes after News Corp newspapers obtained a redacted version of the full report under freedom of information laws, and published parts of it, last month.
The full report has still not been made public.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the summary of the report had only just been released because it was a “highly confidential document”, and because court cases related to the riot were ongoing.
Dr Paget also said the prisoners were able to cause significant damage, which has cost the government as estimated $20 million, because of “weaknesses in the prison infrastructure”.
The riot began when a single inmate broke out of his cell because he “objected” to his housing situation, which led to 25 other inmates in the same sector also breaking out of their cells.
Dr Paget made a number of recommendations in light of the riots, which include:
- Properly funding the DCC (Darwin Correctional Centre) staffing model to reduce the incidence of unscheduled lockdowns, the inefficient use of overtime and to improve staffing stability;
- Addressing infrastructure weaknesses, while avoiding the “hardening” of the prison;
- Reducing overcrowding;
- Reducing the population of short sentence prisoners;
- Implementing a structured day of meaningful activity including education, work treatment and recreation;
- Implementing comprehensive assessments of prisoners’ cognitive functioning; and
- 24/7 on-site health care.
Government announces corrections funding
The NT government announced on Friday its Correctional Services Strategic Plan 2023-26, also known as the “Forward Together agenda”.
The plan was “partially informed” by the recommendations from Dr Paget’s report, as well as recommendations from an internal review of the riot completed by NT Correctional Services in October 2021.
Since the plan’s establishment 12 months ago, the government said they have:
- Recruited an extra 134 correctional officers;
- Upgraded infrastructure at the Darwin Correctional Centre;
- Introduced new riot equipment into both the Darwin;
- Launched the Supported Bail Accommodation program in Darwin and Alice Springs.
Ms Fyles said on Friday the government had allocated $95 million in its most recent budget to justice and corrections.
She said a lot of the funding was dedicated to keeping people out of prison.
“From our perspective, we want to stop the behaviours that see people in prison … you’ve seen the establishment of work camps and different programs … we’ve got the Aboriginal Justice Agreement,” she said.
“There is a lot of work happening around stopping people committing crime.”