prisons. Prison utilisation was 70.5% nationally for youth prisons in 2015-16. However, prisons in Queensland are severely overcrowded compared to the national average, and Victoria has recently announced the construction of a new youth prison, at least partly in response to concerns about overcrowding. Factors contributing to prison overcrowding for both adults and children include: high and rising remand rates and re-imprisonment due to breaches of parole; lack of affordable and appropriate housing; lack of specialist courts and alternative models that aim to address the causal factors linked to offending behaviour; failure to invest in targeted community based solutions or justice reinvestment models; lack of appropriately funded legal assistance; over-policing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; and delays in the finalisation of matters in court. Overcrowding exacerbates the violence and harm inherent in prisons. Overcrowding is linked with increases incidences of assaults, self-harm and attempted suicides. Disturbingly, the Queensland Ombudsman found that the number of self-harm incidents increased by 5.6 times between 2012-13 and 2014-15 in Queensland’s most overcrowded prison (a secure women’s prison). In our view, the answer to prison overcrowding is not to build more prisons but to reduce the number of adults and children in prison unnecessarily. This will require additional funding for affordable and appropriate housing in the community. Proposed Recommendations for Concluding Observations: THAT Australia urgently fund and implement diversionary programs and measures focused on reducing incarceration throughout the criminal justice system to reduce the number of people, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, entering the criminal justice system and to reduce prison overcrowding. Article 12 – Right to Physical and Mental Health List of Issues 2016, paras 24-25
prisons. Prison utilisation was 70.5% nationally for youth prisons in 2015-16. However, prisons in Queensland are severely overcrowded compared to the national average, and Victoria has recently announced the construction of a new youth prison, at least partly in response to concerns about overcrowding. Factors contributing to prison overcrowding for both adults and children include: high and rising remand rates and re-imprisonment due to breaches of parole; lack of affordable and appropriate housing; lack of specialist courts and alternative models that aim to address the causal factors linked to offending behaviour; failure to invest in targeted community based solutions or justice reinvestment models; lack of appropriately funded legal assistance; over-policing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; and delays in the finalisation of matters in court. Overcrowding exacerbates the violence and harm inherent in prisons. Overcrowding is linked with increases incidences of assaults, self-harm and attempted suicides. Disturbingly, the Queensland Ombudsman found that the number of self-harm incidents increased by 5.6 times between 2012-13 and 2014-15 in Queensland’s most overcrowded prison (a secure women’s prison). In our view, the answer to prison overcrowding is not to build more prisons but to reduce the number of adults and children in prison unnecessarily. This will require additional funding for affordable and appropriate housing in the community. Proposed Recommendations for Concluding Observations: THAT Australia urgently fund and implement diversionary programs and measures focused on reducing incarceration throughout the criminal justice system to reduce the number of people, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, entering the criminal justice system and to reduce prison overcrowding. Article 12 – Right to Physical and Mental Health List of Issues 2016, paras 24-25
ICESCR-Final-Submission-May17-1.docx