BY DAKOTA TAIT
Shortland Correctional Centre has the highest rate of assaults on inmates, according to new data on the State's Corrective Services.
In the twelve months to June, there were at least 150 assaults at the Cessnock gaol, or an average of 32 inmates attacked out of every 100.
Across New South Wales, the figures to amounted to 2,189 assaults on inmates over that period, and 184 attacks on staff.
Justice Action, a support and advocacy group for prisoners, is concerned conditions have deteriorated in the correctional system over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coordinator and former prisoner Brett Collins says it's a dangerous situation.
"To have almost a third of the gaol at-risk of assault - not at-risk of assault, but being assaulted - and then for the other two-thirds also to be concerned that it's them next time," he said.
"That puts people in fear. It makes prisoners' lives miserable. It means that their time in there is actually destructive and causes mental illnesses."
"And of course, people lash out, not just at each other, but also at the staff too."
Mr Collins argues it's not only destructive inside the gaol, but adds to issues such as domestic violence when inmates return to their families.
Justice Action is calling for Corrective Services to invest more into education and hobbies within the prison walls, to help inmates with their mental health and rehabilitation .
"Prisoners are being locked in their cells for long periods of time and it means that the result is when they come out, they come out disoriented, they come out mentally unstable and affected," Mr Collins said.
"The private prisons are the ones where they have the least staff, and therefore, they have lock-ins that are longer, and the response to that is actually a dangerous interaction between prisoners themselves, and of course, for the staff."
