WA prisoners paid compensation to sleep on floor amid jail overcrowding

Prisoners in Western Australia are being paid to sleep on the floor in overcrowded jails, a situation described by a Supreme Court Justice as "significant and inhumane." The Department of Justice confirmed that inmates with "alternative sleeping arrangements," including mattresses on the floor in cramped cells, receive a gratuity payment of up to $10.15 per week.

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The gratuity has been a long-standing administrative practice while managing prison population pressures.

This gratuity payment is typically awarded for engaging in work or education programs. The department stated that the payment for alternative sleeping arrangements has been a "long-standing administrative practice while managing prison population pressures," but did not specify when it was introduced or in which prisons it occurs. The number of prisoners receiving the payment fluctuates daily.

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These payments are absolutely an admission that Roger Cook has lost control of our prison system, that he would have to pay prisoners to stay in these overcrowded prison cells.

Overcrowding has become a significant issue in WA's prisons, with up to 200 adult inmates sleeping on the floor across the state as of June, despite triple-bunking in over 250 cells. Shadow Corrective Services Minister Adam Hort criticized the payments, calling them an admission that the government has lost control of the prison system and stating that taxpayers would not expect prisoners to be paid to be in jail.

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No taxpayer would ever expect a government to pay prisoners a gratuity payment to be in prison. That makes no sense to anyone.

The severe overcrowding has also led to reduced sentences for some criminals. Supreme Court Justice Alain Musikanth ruled that overcrowding at Hakea Prison was a mitigating factor in sentencing a man convicted of attempted murder, effectively lessening his punishment due to the harsh prison conditions.

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significant and inhumane