‘Slave labour’: The for-profit business of prison work

People in Australian prisons typically work for about $1 per hour, and private companies are profiting from this cheap labour.

In Victoria, incarcerated individuals are paid just over $1 per hour to make number plates for the entire state.

In New South Wales, people in prison make “trendy” tea towels for a local small business that would take them at least 14 hours of work to be able to afford just one.

This is all part of what state governments dub the “corrective services industries”, where people in prison are put to work maintaining the facility and for the private sector.

There are ongoing concerns around the drastically low rates of pay for people in prisons, the type of work they are forced to undertake, the lack of practical skills being picked up and the high levels of secrecy around which private companies are profiting from this labour.

In Victoria, people in prison are paid a maximum of $1.12 per hour to work, significantly below the minimum wage. This is more than is paid in NSW prisons, with inmates receiving a minimum of $17.82 per week for 30 hours of work.

In Victoria, the state government also sets aside 20 per cent of the money earned by individuals in prison as savings, which is only available to them upon their release. With this included, people in prison make about $35 per week in money they can use while still incarcerated.

A ninth of the minimum wage

This would be unacceptable in any other area of society, and should be rejected in prisons too, Australian Lawyers Alliance criminal justice spokesperson and barrister Greg Barns says.

“Governments love boasting about the work prisoners do, but they get a pittance,” Barns says.

“These prisoners who are making number plates ought to be paid, the government is effectively using slave labour. We don’t tolerate that in civilian society.”

In New South Wales, the most a person can make from working in a prison is $80.73 per week for 30 hours work, equating to an hourly wage of $2.70 or a ninth of the minimum wage.

The lowest an inmate can be paid in NSW is $17.82 per week for 30 hours work, equating to 60 cents per hour.

A recidivism risk

The common argument in favour of prison labour is that it provides much-needed training to inmates, and a means to make money which can be used to spend within prison and once they are released.

But the incredibly low rates of pay, far below the minimum wage, make a mockery of the latter, and the often simple, manual labour throws the first claim into question too.

The Victorian government is also unable to say how many companies utilising prison labour have offered jobs to formerly incarcerated workers.

While it’s argued by governments that having new skills upon release from prison will reduce recidivism, a lack of money is one of the primary reasons why someone will return to prison soon after release.

“One of the major impediments for prisoners on release is the fact they come out of prisons with little to no money in their bank account, and it means it’s very difficult for them to get a foothold back into society,” Barns says.

“It’s in the community’s interests that prisoners are paid appropriately for the work they do within the prison, and that the money is then able to be used by them to support them and their families on release so we reduce the risk of recidivism.”

A lucrative business

Prison labour is a lucrative practice for state governments, with corrections departments partnering with the private sector to use this cheap labour.

 In 2016-17, the last reported figures, NSW Corrective Services Industries generated revenue of $128.9 million, with a trading profit of $50.4 million. The equivalent in the Northern Territory made a $2 million profit back in 2014.

In Victoria, the state government has blocked repeated attempts from journalists and crossbenchers to get information on what companies are using prison labour, with claims this information is “commercial in confidence”.

Reason Party Leader Fiona Patten has led a campaign for more transparency around this practice.

“Victorians have the right to know who is profiting from below-minimum wage prison labour,” Patten said.

“Many ex-prisoners say they have been denied work by the same companies because they have a criminal record. Companies which utilise prison labour to boost their profits have a responsibility to provide pathways to employment for those workers.

“If the work they do is good enough for the companies on the inside, it should be good enough on the outside.”

Furniture, airplane headsets and tea towels

Without any public reporting, the only way to find out what companies are using prison labour in Victoria is from when the government or the business choose to publicise it.

Last year Victorian corrections minister Natalie Hutchins tweeted about how people in prison in Victoria are making all the number plates for the state. These people are being paid $9 per day for this manual labour.

The Victorian government has said that inmates are working in metal fabrication, furniture manufacturing, agricultural equipment making and assembly work.

The New South Wales Corrective Services Industries is much more vocal about its practises, regularly posting about businesses utilising prison labour on its social media pages.

This includes inmates at the Lithgow Correctional Centre, who are paid a maximum of $17.82 per week for 30 hours of work making tea towels for a NSW business, which retail for $37.

The NSW government says prison labour offers “competitive pricing” and workers who “relish labour intensive business opportunities”. Industries on offer in NSW prisons include textiles, furniture, printing services, engineering, refurbishment and housing, making products such as hospital linen, Australian flags, security fencing, shavers, kettles and toasters.

Women in a prison in NSW also refurbish and repackage airline headsets for major Australian airlines.

A batch coat plant has been running at Victoria’s Loddon Prison for nearly 30 years, with those incarcerated there working on the conveyor belt. The Victorian government recently signed a $390,000 contract with Garnic Technologies for a new purpose-built batch powder coat plant, including 12 months of service and maintenance.

“The acquisition of the batch powder coat plant will expand the capabilities and capacity of the powder coating industry and provide increased prisoner employment and new training opportunities at the prison location,” the Victorian government said.

It’s a moral issue that society needs to grapple with, Barns says.

“Are we satisfied with a situation where companies improve their bottom line and make profits out of taking advantage of a captive workforce which has no choice in terms of how much they earn?” he says.

“My experience with prisoners is that they like work and to be occupied in prison, but they also feel that they’re treated as cannon fodder - they’re essentially a form of cheap labour for government.

“They have no rights in the same way other people have in the labour market. That is a moral issue in our society.”