‘Perfect storm’: Riots put a spotlight on privately-run prisons

Four riots in the last year at privately-run prisons in Australia should serve to bring attention to the conditions in these facilities which are being run for profit.

Four riots in privately-run prisons across the country in the last year are the result of a “perfect storm” of poor conditions and a lack of focus on welfare within the for-profit facilities, according to several family members of people incarcerated in them.

While much of the reporting of these incidents has focused on the chaos of the event and the damage done to the facilities, little attention has been given to what connects these two prisons: they’re both privately run.

There have been three reported riots at Parklea Correctional Centre in NSW, run by MTC-Broadspectrum, and one major riot at Acacia Prison in WA, run by Serco, within the last nine months.

These incidents should shine a spotlight on the operation of places of incarceration by large global multinationals for profit and the conditions people are faced with when they are inside of them.

A perfect storm

Numerous family members of people incarcerated in Parklea prison have shared similar stories with me of significant difficulties in obtaining basic medication, poor hygiene and a complete lack of care, all exacerbated by the restrictions and lockdowns required by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

This has led to a “perfect storm” within the prison, as one mother of someone in Parklea tells me, and directly contributed to the two riots we’ve seen this year so far.

There have now been three major riots at Parklea prison in the last year.

The operation of Parklea has been outsourced by the NSW government to American conglomerate MTC in partnership with Australian firm Broadspectrum on a billion-dollar contract.

In the 2021 calendar year, MTC-Broadspectrum was paid $86.91 million to run the prison. So far in the 2021-22 financial year, the companies have been paid $46.48 million. In that same time period, MTC-Broadspectrum has been fined $750,000 for various incidents, such as the recent riots.

The incident in July last year was the most significant one at Parklea, with a number of incarcerated people making their way onto the roof and lighting multiple fires. This led to $8.8 million in damage which will be covered by MTC-Broadspectrum’s insurance.

While media reports at the time claimed the unrest was due to a lack of availability of drugs, several family members of people in the prison say it was more complicated than this.

In the lead up to lighting the fires, one of the men had no running water or a flushing toilet in his cell for several days, they say.

Another incident occured in January this year, when an inmate used a power point to light a mattress on fine, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, according to the state government.

In mid-February, two people in the prison reportedly unhappy with being in quarantine barricaded themselves in a custody reception area and set fire to mattresses, a fridge and a toaster.

The incident was under control within 15 minutes, according to Corrective Services representatives at an Estimates hearing this week.

Get out of jail free card

The private provider will be fined for each of these incidents, but this fine will be for “lack of bed availability” in the case of the second riot.

This was labelled a “get out of jail free card” by Greens MLC David Shoebridge.

“Under this contract, which was written nearly three and a half years ago, Parklea gets a get out of jail free card for everything else,” Shoebridge said this week.

“They can have riots, fires, assaults and mismanagement, but if it leads to beds being unavailable - because that is the highest charge - they do not have to worry about the rest of it because it is just bed unavailability.”

If MTC-Broadspectrum receives the maximum fine available for each of the three recent incidents, it will equate to far less than 1 per cent of what it is paid annually to run the prison.

There has been little focus on the reasons behind these moments of unrest and the conditions within these privately run facilities.

Prisons for profit

Numerous family members of people incarcerated at Parklea have described atrocious conditions at the prison, difficulties in accessing even the most basic of medication and a lack of interest in the wellbeing of individuals by the private operator.

These existing conditions have been exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic, they say, leading to extended restrictions and lockdowns, and difficulties in visiting those incarcerated there.

A mother of a man at Parklea says that the lockdowns, lack of healthcare and access to medication, poor hygiene and restricted family visits have created a “perfect storm” within Parklea.

Important programs, including ones concerning drug recovery, have also been cancelled.

Another mother of a man at the prison say they had prolonged difficulties in ensuring he had access to crucial medication.

“There’s a lack of interest in inmates’ wellbeing,” she says. “I am absolutely shocked by the complete lack of care, support and welfare.

“As a privately-run prison the emphasis is on cost. My experience with Parklea is that every touch point is tenuous and lacking at best.”

Nearly everyone I spoke to mentioned the fact that Parklea is run by a private company, and this potentially leading to cost-cutting and worse conditions than the publicly-run facilities.

“They have more of a protective barrier to accountability,” another family member tells me.

Parklea was also at the centre of the first and largest Covid outbreak in a prison last year, with major concerns around the handling of this health crisis and the care provided to people incarcerated there.

Acacia Prison, the second largest prison in Australia, is run by notorious British firm Serco on a contract that’s worth $64 million annually.

There was a “riot” at the prison last month, with fires lit in cells and people climbing onto the roof.

The prison has previously been criticised for being “horrendously understaffed”. Following the incident, Serco is facing a fine of $100,00 under its contract with the state government, about 0.16 per cent of what it is paid annually.

Serco is running Acacia Prison on a $1.8 billion contract running from 2020 to 2036.

The last time Western Australia’s independent prison inspector reviewed the Acacia prison in late 2019, it found that the facility was regularly short-staffed and services on offer had declined. The inspector visited the prison in late 2021 and is currently preparing a report on it.