145: Inspection of Roebourne Regional Prison

Roebourne is the receival facility for men and women in the Pilbara region who are on remand, sentenced or returned to prison. At the time of the inspection, 86 per cent of people held at Roebourne identified as Aboriginal. Roebourne holds medium- and minimum-security prisoners for longer periods, but maximum-security prisoners are only held on …

Remandees had fewer opportunities than sentenced prisoners and were ineligible to join offender programs or access the work camp. We thought there was a need to better educate prisoners about legal processes and ensure access to appropriate resources. We believe it is time the prison considered using the Aboriginal Interpreting WA service for key interactions …

There were many areas in Roebourne Regional Prison which were progressing well. There were some excellent initiatives in voluntary programs and throughcare services for prisoners, especially for Martu people from the Western Desert. And the Town Work Camp was continuing to provide outstanding service to the prison and the community. However, the high rate of …

Recommendation 1  The Department should develop a more effective system to support prisoner access to basic legal knowledge and information. Recommendation 2 Roebourne should trial the use of Aboriginal interpreters for key interactions with prisoners from a particular language. Recommendation 3 Restore in-situ lunch breaks to maximise participation for those prisoners engaged in constructive activities. …