Australia’s ‘worst prison’ not closing anytime soon

Broome Regional Prison was found to be not fit for purpose and “inhumane” more than 20 years ago, with a recommendation it be shut down. It’s still operating today.

In its 2005 report on the Broome Regional Prison, the WA Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (OICS) said the prison should be closed by the end of the decade.

But two decades later, the prison is still operating, with a WA state government plan to build a new prison in the area announced six years ago stalling, with no site identified.

Since 2001, the OICS has issued seven reports based on inspections of the Broome prison, all finding it not fit for use, “decrepit” and “inhumane”.

The prison watchdog is now set to inspect Broome Regional Prison again, with little hopes that the situation will have improved.

“In 2025, the need to replace Broome with a modern and fit-for-purpose facility remains critical,” the OICS said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch associate director Kriti Sharma inspected the Broome prison in 2016 and 2020 and labelled it the “worst prison” in the country, saying it featured “extremely rundown infrastructure” and was “very ill-equipped” to manage incarcerated people.

Some of the infrastructure at the prison dates back to 1945, making it a “crumbling vestige of the state’s earlier colonial days”, Sharma said.

She said it was “by far the worst prison” she had visited in the country, and that it was “dilapidated” and “poorly maintained”, with foul odors, persistent mould and garden crates being used as furniture.

Three of the accommodation blocks at the prison were commissioned in 1945, along with the secure shed, known as the “bull pen”, which was built in 1895.

The last OICS inspection of the prison, in mid-2023, found that the prison was also not offering “any meaningful rehabilitation for the majority of people sent there”.

“Most prisoners in Broome do not have meaningful activities to occupy their time,” the 2023 report said.

“There are few employment and training opportunities, no criminogenic programs, no education, no structured recreation and limited opportunities for community work in Broome.”

There have been plans to replace the Broome prison with a new facility for several years now.

In May 2019 the WA government allocated $1.4 million to begin planning for a new prison in the Shire of Broome.

By its 2023 report, the OICS noted that a preferred location for this site had not been located, and there were reports construction would not begin until the 2027-28 financial year.

“It appears that it will be well over 10 years from the first announcement until a new prison is likely to open,” the report said.

“In the interim, hundreds of prisoners will spend that time in Broome doing very little in the way of meaningful rehabilitation. On so many levels this is a missed opportunity.”

The WA government is still yet to find a site for the new prison to replace the Broome facility.

A site announced in 2022 was later deemed to be unsuitable, and none have been identified in the years since.