As prisons across the Northern Territory feel the strain of record-high inmate numbers, a range of options are being considered, the Northern Territory Corrections Commissioner says.
Multiple sources have told the ABC that one option under consideration is to transfer all female inmates from the Alice Springs prison to the Darwin Correctional Centre — but this has since been put on hold.
The number of prisoners in NT facilities reached a record level on November 19, peaking at 2,000 inmates. On December 1, that number dropped slightly to 1,964 prisoners.
"NT Correctional Services [are] facing unprecedented pressures due to rising prisoner numbers," Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley said.
At times of stress, the Darwin Correctional Centre has an extra 76 mattresses, which are set up on the floor.
Renae "Rocket" Bretherton, who spent time at the prison in 2018 and 2019, said during that period there were countless occasions when people were forced to sleep on the floor due to overcrowding.
"They had people sleeping up at reception when I was in there on a concrete floor on a mattress … they are really, really uncomfortable," she said.
"When there are more people in jail, there are extra stressors. It was already overcrowded.
"Now I worry about people's mental health and their safety."
Filled to the brim
Speaking in parliament last Thursday, Independent MLA Robyn Lambley denounced the correction system as a "total and utter crisis", with prisons "full to the brim".
On a visit to the Alice Springs Correctional Centre a few months ago, Ms Lambley said she was blown away by the number of people crammed into small spaces.
"There is a major problem that this government has created for itself, and it is facing, and that is that there is no room at the inn," she said.
"They cannot jail any more people even if they tried because there is literally no room at all."
When taken to the prison industry section — a space intended for work opportunities — she said she was shocked to see "literally no activity there at all".
"It was conveyed to me that there are two big problems," Ms Lambley said.
[The prison is] so critically and chronically understaffed that they cannot allow the prisoners to engage in too much activity because they just do not have the ability to properly supervise them.
"Of course, the second one is that there are just too many prisoners in that facility."
The monthly daily average number of prisoners in June was 1,928, according to data from the latest Department of the Attorney-General and Justice annual report.
This year's figure is 7.2 per cent higher than the average for June 2021 (1,799 prisoners).
'Barrelling towards crisis point': adovcate
The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency's acting chief executive Mark Munnich said the organisation did not support transferring people as an option for dealing with the unprecedented pressures.
He questioned how moving people from one crowded prison to another would solve the problem.
Mr Munnich said prison transfers had a significant impact on people's social and emotional wellbeing as it displaced them from their country, culture and community and isolated them from their family and supports like lawyers, case workers and social workers.
"We have been barrelling towards crisis point for a long time … [and we] have been warning governments for the past couple of decades," Mr Munnich said.
"Without legislative reform, numbers will continue to grow, and human rights abuse will continue to occur.
"Tough-on-crime government policies designed to lock people up is the exact reason our community feels unsafe, and the prisons are overflowing."
Mr Munnich pointed to "discriminatory government policies", mandatory sentencing and bail amendments as contributing factors to increased rates of incarceration and recidivism.
He said community-led initiatives based on prevention and justice reinvestment were better pathways out of the crisis.
A spokesman from the Department of Attorney-General and Justice said details on the other options being considered by the commissioner would not be disclosed until risk and safety assessments had been approved.
The ABC contacted the NT Attorney-General Chancey Paech but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
