Australia's remand problem

Australia’s independent prisons inspector has raised the alarm over the high number of people on remand in detention and how they are being treated.

Australia is in breach of the UN rules governing conditions in prisons over the treatment of people on remand, according to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

The Australian National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) coordinator, designated under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) by the federal government as the Commonwealth Ombudsman, released its first annual report last week, covering 2022-23.

In the report, the Ombudsman pointed to concerns raised by other designated state NPMs including around access to the NDIS and Medicare in prison, the use of isolation in youth detention and staffing shortages across the detention network.

The report also shines a spotlight on the treatment of people in remand in Australian prisons. The proportion of people in prison on remand, meaning they are yet to be found guilty of a crime, has skyrocketed in recent decades.

In 2012, those on remand made up less than a quarter of the prison population. By 2022, those on remand accounted for more than 36 percent of the entire prison population.

“This shift comes as corrections facilities struggle to afford those held on remand the treatment and conditions they are entitled to under international human rights law and human rights standards,” the Ombudsman’s report said.

According to international law and standards, individuals on remand are meant to be held in different conditions to those convicted of a crime. They should also enjoy a presumption of innocence and better treatment and conditions in prison.

According to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, those on remand must enjoy a “special regime” that involves being kept separate from other people in prison, access to a separate room, and to wear their own clothing where possible, or at least different clothing to others in prison.

But the national NPM found that these standards are not close to being met across prisons in Australia.

In Western Australia, the prisons inspectorate found there is often little difference in conditions for people on remand. Those on remand don’t wear their own clothing or have a right to their own single-bed accommodation, despite this being required under the Mandela rules.

The inspector found that people on remand live, work and participate in recreational activities together with other people in prison, also in breach of international norms.

In the ACT, individuals on remand do not receive any additional visit opportunities or longer phone calls, and their increased need for legal representation is not given priority, the report found.

The NPM also found that there is no separate accommodation for women on remand in Tasmania.

“As the proportion of the corrections population held on remand has increased, detaining authorities must be particularly mindful of the various critical distinctions in treatment necessary for this cohort, and reflect this accordingly in the management and opportunities for such people,” the NPM report said.