ERA Inquiry into the efficiency and performance of WA Prisons

Following extensive engagement with the ERA during 2015 alongside WANADA and WACOSS, WAAMH completed a second submission to the Inquiry earlier this year. The Final Report of the Inquiry is now available and has now been provided to Parliament. The final report can be accessed here.

The ERA made 44 recommendations across 4 key areas of:
1.    Establishing consistent standards across the prison system.
2.    Setting clear and meaningful performance benchmarks.
3.    Introducing better planning, processes, and use and disclosure of performance information.
4.    Establishing a better framework for choosing prison operators that considers the merits of public, private, and not-for-profit providers.

Throughout the Inquiry, WAAMH effectively influenced the ERA, resulting in a recognition of the over representation and importance of mental health issues in prisons, and a number of our recommendations being accepted. WAAMH especially welcomes the ERA including specific recommendations about mental health benchmarks. The benchmarks relate to the number of prisoners assessed as having a mental health issue on arrival whose mental health has improved whilst at the prison, the number of prisoners released with a medical discharge plan, and suicide and attempted suicide measures. Other welcome recommendations made by the ERA include that the Department improve data collection, and data sharing and transparency. WAAMH’s submissions and engagement with the Inquiry can be found here:

WAAMH Submission - September 2016

Joint submission to ERA Prisons Inquiry - January 2016