A 5c pay rise for prisoners after seven years

Pay for inmates working in prison has gone up by less than 5c in seven years in Victoria. In NSW it hasn't increase for 15 years.

Those working while incarcerated in Victorian prisons have received their first pay rise in seven years - and it’s less than 5c.

It was reported by the Herald Sun that prisoners received a 4 percent pay rise at the start of this year. Those working at the highest level available in a Victoria prison will now be paid an annual wage of $2444, an increase of $117 per year.

This was reported by the Herald Sun as being “higher than guards and teachers”, despite being the first pay increase handed to those working in prison since 2015, and it equating to less than 5c extra per hour.

If wages for inmates were to increase to match inflation in this time, they would have jumped by more than 25 percent. Instead, they’ve increased by 4 percent.

It would take someone on the minimum wage just three weeks to make what someone in prison makes in a year.

On top of that, 20 percent of wages for inmates are withheld by the state government for “compulsory savings”, and only made available upon release from prison.

Workers in prison are also denied the workplace protections and compensation options on offer to employees in the community as the Work Health and Safety Act explicitly states they are not entitled to them.

While the Herald Sun article led with the pay rise being more than that received by the state’s healthcare workers, this was the first wage increase for these workers in seven years. Public health workers and Ambulance Workers employees also received a $3000 payment from the state government last year, more than someone working in prison makes in a year.

All sentenced prisoners in Victoria aged under 65 years old are expected to work unless they are medically unfit. They are offered at least 60 hours of work per fortnight, with the rates set by the Corrections Commissioner.

In Victoria, the maximum hourly rate available is $1.12 per hour. With the 4 percent increase, this is now $1.17, or $9.36 per day.

In contrast to this, the Victoria government made $28 million in the last financial year from prison labour, largely through contracts with private companies to use the prison workers.

The pay increase in Victoria is “ludicrous”, Justice Action coordinator Brett Collins says.

“Prisoners don’t want to ask their families for money as most are already struggling,” Collins says.

“So poverty in prison, even though prisoners are working, is widespread. Desperation means increased tension between prisoners, drug dealing as a means to earn money, and the opportunity to encourage prisoners to work hard and get a real benefit for their efforts is lost.

“Prisoners would like to work, earn a fair wage and help support their families as well as accumulate money for when they need a bond for their accommodation upon release.”

The situation is even more dire in New South Wales, where workers in prison have not received a pay increase since 2008. To keep up with inflation, these wages should have increased by at least 30 percent.

Collins says negotiations are ongoing in NSW for at least a similar pay increase for people in prison in the state. In NSW, it costs $2.60 for a six minute phone call on new computers provided in cells, but Collins says many prisoners are struggling to afford this.

The highest hourly rate in NSW prisons is 80c, meaning it would take someone in prison more than three hours of work to afford a six minute phone call with a loved one.

“Prisoner wages need to cover the cost of phone calls and mail to family,” Collins says.

“Items like coffee and cereals, and additions to the diet like fish and pasta, are priced much higher than in supermarkets despite the large buying power and use of prisoner labour to distribute the items.”