❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks data on compensation paid to prisoners and their families, and the number of outstanding claims. The Attorney General provides some data on resolved and outstanding claims but declines to provide specific financial figures or breakdowns due to confidentiality and resource constraints.
AnsweredQoN 538Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) For each of the financial years 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, and year-to-date 2025–26, how much has been paid by the State, arising from incidents occurring within custodial facilities, in compensation, damages, settlements or ex gratia payments to prisoners and their families? (2) For each year in (1), please provide a breakdown of the number of claims or cases resolved, and the grounds for which payments were made, including but not limited to: (a) unlawful death in custody; (b) serious injury; (c) medical negligence or lack of care; (d) assault or mistreatment; and (e) unlawful detention or administrative error? (3) For each of the financial years since 2021–22, how many legal claims from prisoners or their families relating to treatment in custody remain outstanding? (4) For (3), what is the estimated contingent liability for these claims?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 October 2025
Responded by
Minister for Attorney General
Response time
7 days
(1) Disclosing amounts paid in compensation, damages, settlements or ex gratia payments may compromise the State’s position in resolving future claims. It is also common for claims to be resolved on a confidential basis.
Given the relatively low number of resolved claims, it is also not appropriate to provide an aggregate figure of the amount paid each financial year.
(2) The table below provides the total number of claims resolved by Financial Year:
Financial
Year
Total number of
claims resolved
by the Department
2021/2022
5
2022/2023
12
2023/2024
10
2024/2025
22
2025/2026 *
6
* As of 21 Aug 2025
(a) – (e) Given the relatively small number of claims resolved by financial year, disclosing the grounds for which payments were made would risk the confidentiality of settlements and the privacy of the individuals involved.
(3) The table below provides the number of legal claims from prisoners, detainees and/or their families relating to incidents occurring within custodial facilities for each financial year that remained outstanding.
Financial
Year
End of FY
outstanding claims
Total
2021/2022
22
2022/2023
33
2023/2024
58
2024/2025
25
2025/2026 *
6
* As of 21 Aug 2025
(4) This information is not readily available as each matter is assessed individually. Collecting it would divert staff away from their normal duties and is not considered to be a reasonable use of government resources.
Given the relatively low number of resolved claims, it is also not appropriate to provide an aggregate figure of the amount paid each financial year.
(2) The table below provides the total number of claims resolved by Financial Year:
Financial
Year
Total number of
claims resolved
by the Department
2021/2022
5
2022/2023
12
2023/2024
10
2024/2025
22
2025/2026 *
6
* As of 21 Aug 2025
(a) – (e) Given the relatively small number of claims resolved by financial year, disclosing the grounds for which payments were made would risk the confidentiality of settlements and the privacy of the individuals involved.
(3) The table below provides the number of legal claims from prisoners, detainees and/or their families relating to incidents occurring within custodial facilities for each financial year that remained outstanding.
Financial
Year
End of FY
outstanding claims
Total
2021/2022
22
2022/2023
33
2023/2024
58
2024/2025
25
2025/2026 *
6
* As of 21 Aug 2025
(4) This information is not readily available as each matter is assessed individually. Collecting it would divert staff away from their normal duties and is not considered to be a reasonable use of government resources.
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