Hon Rob Horstman questions the Minister regarding the use of a specialist women's unit for male prisoners at Greenough Regional Prison and the disruption of a domestic violence support program, citing a waste of taxpayer funds. The Minister's response defends the department's actions due to population pressures.

AnsweredQoN 308Legislative Assembly
Asked
29 May 2025
Portfolio
Corrective Services

QuestionView source ↗

Greenough Regional Prison—Inspector of Custodial
Services report
308. Hon Rob Horstman to the minister
representing the Minister for Corrective Services:
I note the findings
of the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services report into Greenough
Regional Prison that found women prisoners no longer have access to their
recently built $12.3 million specialist unit due to overcrowding and that the
delivery of a $2 million domestic violence support program has also been
disrupted.
(1) What is the timeframe to restore unit 4 to its
intended purpose as a specialist women's unit?
(2) Will the minister commit to restoring the
Leave Safe, Stay Safe pilot program at Greenough Regional Prison?
(3) How does the
minister justify this more than $14 million waste of taxpayer funding that is
no longer able to be used to support women prisoners at Greenough Regional
Prison?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member
for some notice of the question. On behalf of the minister representing the
Minister for Corrective Services, the following response has been provided by
the Minister for Corrective Services.
(1) Due to ongoing population pressures across the
custodial estate, unit 4 continues to be utilised for male prisoners. The
department is actively monitoring capacity and developing strategies to address
long-term infrastructure and population needs, including future use of unit 4.
(2) The Leave Safe, Stay Safe program at Greenough
Regional Prison remains active, including rural and regional focused components
and continues to support Mid-West Gascoyne region women from a metropolitan
base.
(3) The department
does not consider the use of unit 4 for male prisoners a waste of taxpayer
funding.

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