A decline in overall prison population since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and infrastructure expansions at Bunbury and Casuarina Prisons has provided the opportunity to shut down the Albany accommodation areas most in need of refurbishment.
The current prisoner population at Albany Regional Prison is 300 (as at 23 January 2022), which is 74.3 per cent of the facility’s general purpose bed capacity of 404.
Unit 1 Yards A and B are currently not in use. In December 2020, all protection category prisoners from Albany’s Unit 1 were transferred to the expanded Protection Unit at Hakea Prison.
Corrective Services Commissioner, Michael Reynolds, said some refurbishments are being undertaken at Unit 1’s A and B Yards, but there are currently no plans to utilise the Unit any further than it is now.
"Yards C and E remain fully operational, and Yard D has been set aside for COVID-19 management and isolation should it be required," Commissioner Reynolds said.
The Department has responded to the 15 recommendations contained in the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services’ (OICS) latest report on Albany Regional Prison tabled today in State Parliament.
Six recommendations were supported or supported in principle, seven were noted and two not supported.
Commissioner Reynolds said Albany has been one of the Department’s high performing prisons in relation to its capacity to respond to an emergency.
"This is particularly valuable given Albany’s geographical location and distance from the metropolitan area," he said.
Since the OICS inspection in February 2021, the Department has successfully recruited seven additional Senior Officers, and continues to develop recruitment strategies for any ongoing vacant positions.
The Department’s Long-Term Custodial Technology Strategy will provide further opportunity to improve digital services and mobile technologies to improve staff access to information and services for prisoners.
The Department is developing better engagement strategies to enhance job prospects for Aboriginal prisoners on release. Albany’s participation rate in the Time to Work Employment Service Program is the highest in the State.
Albany manages culturally and linguistically diverse prisoners and has developed initiatives such as an orientation package in Vietnamese, the most prevalent foreign language cohort, and enhanced the library’s collection of multilingual books.
