for Men’s and Women’s Prisons in Victoria345 require that prisons place
prisoners with a cognitive impairment ‘in an accommodation area that provides adequate safety and security for all prisoners’.
345 Corrections Victoria, Correctional Management Standards
for Men’s Prisons in Victoria, July 2014 and Standards for the Management of Women Prisoners in Victoria, July 2014.
577. Despite this, my officers found that there remains an inadequate number of specialised beds to house this vulnerable cohort of prisoners. The lack of specialised placement available to prisoners with a disability results not only in inadequate support and treatment to address their complex needs, but is also potentially a safety issue.
578. One prison chaplain outlined concerns about a prisoner he thought was
particularly vulnerable and whose disability was not being adequately recognised by prison staff. He described the prisoner, a 23 year old refugee, as having a functioning age of seven and an IQ of 59. He said that the prisoner had been transferred to different units on multiple occasions and while he had been told that the prisoner’s intellectual disability was recorded in his file, the chaplain’s observations were that staff were not aware of it, and as such, did not know how to respond to the prisoner’s special needs and behaviour. He said that the prisoner often ended up in ‘the slot’ (solitary confinement) for misbehaviour. 579. A number of witnesses including prison
chaplains, raised issues about the training provided to staff in dealing with prisoners with a cognitive disability, particularly given the important role they have in identifying behaviour that could indicate an impairment or disability. A number of prison chaplains told my investigation that staff were ‘set up to fail’ if they were not adequately trained, and that this only results in both the prisoner and staff member getting frustrated, leading to a potentially volatile situation.
580. Jesuit Social Services highlighted this concern in its submission:
While efforts have been made to make the justice system more responsive to disability, particularly through the Corrections Disability Framework, the reality is that significant issues remain around identifying and supporting prisoners with a disability. Of particular concern for Jesuit Social Services are the significant number of people with acquired brain injury in the justice system and skills of staff … to communicate with and provide support for them.
581. When questioned about the training on cognitive disability provided to prison staff, Corrections Victoria advised that the SOATS provides a session to new prison recruits on disability, and Disability Portfolio Holders may receive ongoing training through their attendance at quarterly forums. It advised that ABI specific training was also previously provided when Corrections Victoria
employed an ABI clinician however this role no longer exists346.
582. In response to my draft report, the department clarified that SOATS:
… have incorporated ABI specific training to their DSP [Disability Support Pathway] training and this is delivered as part of various DSP packages to a range of groups including new recruits … [and] custodial supervisors. External Specialists in the area of ABI … have been contracted to provide specialist training.
583. Staff permanently rostered in the
Marlborough Unit are required to complete a minimum number of hours of specialist training per year347. There are no similar
Service Delivery Outcomes relating to disability training for prison staff outside the unit.
346 Corrections Victoria, email response to Victorian Ombudsman enquiries, 15 May 2015.
347 Corrections Victoria, Private Prison Service Delivery Outcome
(SDO) Definitions, July 2014 (SDO 25 – Disability Training).
Women
584. There were 420 women in Victorian prisons on 30 June 2015348, 7 per cent of
the overall prison population. Between 2008 and 2013 the number of women imprisoned in Victoria increased by 58 per cent, more than double that of the male prison population349.
585. There has been an 81.9 per cent increase in the number of women imprisoned who were first time offenders, and a more than 50 per cent increase in the number of Vietnamese born female prisoners over the same period. The rate of growth is almost 13 per cent faster than the previous year350.
586. Women are on average serving shorter sentences than men. According to Corrections Victoria, 32.5 per cent are serving a prison sentence of less than one year, and 82.9 per cent are serving a term less than 5 years351. As noted
earlier, there is also a higher proportion of women on remand. On 31 March 2015, 34 per cent of women prisoners were on remand, compared to 24 per cent of the total prison population. This means that many women have limited or no access to programs.
348 Corrections Victoria, Daily Prisoner and Police Cells Report for
Tuesday 30 June 2015.
349 The South Australian Centre for Economic Studies, Adelaide and Flinders Universities, Evaluation of the Targeted Women’s
Correctional Response, Final Report, commissioned by
Corrections Victoria, Department of Justice, October 2014. 350 ibid.
351 Corrections Victoria, Key statistics on the Victorian prison
system 2009-10 to 2013-14, Table 5: Historical Trends all
587. As described by the Human Rights Law Centre, women’s needs for rehabilitation and reintegration programs differ
distinctly from those of men352. A number
of submissions to my investigation supported this view. While research on the backgrounds of female offenders in Victoria is limited, national research conducted in 2004 by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that 87 per cent female prisoners were victims of sexual, physical or emotional abuse, with the majority being victims of multiple forms of abuse353.
588. This research was supported by a 2014 report commissioned by Corrections Victoria, in which it was noted:
It is the case that very few women held in custody are serious violent offenders and that generally they are categorised as ‘low risk offenders’. Many are single parents with dependent children. They experience multiple disadvantages with high levels of poverty, low levels of educational attainment and poor employment
histories. Many offenders have a history of sexual and physical abuse and violence is common among female prisoners. Female