❓ A parliamentary question regarding inhumane conditions at Hakea Prison, focusing on the composition, timeline, and transparency of a taskforce established to address these issues. The answer provides limited specific details about the taskforce members and strategies.
AnsweredQoN 64Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the recent West Australian article regarding inhumane and unhygienic living conditions at Hakea Prison, which highlighted that “approximately 80 per cent of the men at Hakea are unsentenced, which means they have not been convicted of the alleged offences for which they are being held”, as well as the taskforce which has been established to improve conditions for Hakea prisoners, and I ask: (a) who are the appointed members of the taskforce; (b) in reference to (a), what are their respective roles and qualifications; (c) what is the timeline set for the taskforce to "devise and implement strategies to improve the conditions at the prison"; (d) will the taskforce's strategies be made publicly available; and (e) will you table any briefing note or similar document that has been prepared in relation to the establishment of this taskforce?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
20 May 2025
Responded by
Minister for the Environment representing the Minister for Corrective Services
Response time
5 days
(a) The taskforce is comprised of senior executives from across the Department of Justice, including Corrective Services and staff from Hakea Prison.
(b) Members of the taskforce cover a wide variety of roles and encompass many qualifications, such as nursing, clinical psychologist, business, criminal justice.
(c) The taskforce identifies strategies, and these are split into short, medium and long-term actions.
(d) The Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services is responsible for independent oversight of prison operations. The Department of Justice will continue to report progress of the taskforce’s initiatives with the Inspector.
(e) The establishment of the taskforce is included in the Department of Justice response to the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services Hakea Prison Inspection Report, which is a public document.
(b) Members of the taskforce cover a wide variety of roles and encompass many qualifications, such as nursing, clinical psychologist, business, criminal justice.
(c) The taskforce identifies strategies, and these are split into short, medium and long-term actions.
(d) The Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services is responsible for independent oversight of prison operations. The Department of Justice will continue to report progress of the taskforce’s initiatives with the Inspector.
(e) The establishment of the taskforce is included in the Department of Justice response to the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services Hakea Prison Inspection Report, which is a public document.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.