Drug search staff, shut 'undignified' wing: report on Cessnock jails

A report into the Cessnock and Shortland correctional centres, both part of the same Hunter Valley complex, laid bare 91 recommendations stemming from inspections last year.

Inspector of Custodial Services (ICS) Fiona Rafter wrote that in the 12 months to November 2022, contraband drugs were discovered at Shortland Correctional Centre twice a week.

"There are a number of ways that contraband may be introduced to a correctional centre, including by inmates, visitors or staff or concealed in packaged goods," she wrote.

"The presence of drugs is not only illegal but can have a range of consequences including erratic behaviour, the risk of overdose, standover, and assaults of people with unpaid drug debts."

The report recommended Corrective Services NSW enhanced its drug detection strategies by starting targeted and random searches of staff at Shortland and all correctional centres, and conducting regular and random urine testing of inmates.

Shortland Correctional Centre, which is a maximum security male prison, had the highest rate of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults across all prisons in NSW between July 2021 and June 2022, though the frequency declined at the start of 2023, the report said.

"We heard numerous times during the inspection that underlying factors contributing to violence included boredom and a general lack of opportunity for meaningful engagement ... in some accommodation blocks," the report said.

Inspector Rafter recommended the closure of all the original 1974 infrastructure at Cessnock Correctional Centre, a minimum security male jail which is marking its 50^th anniversary this year, known as Area 1.

The report stated that living conditions for people housed there were "unsafe, undignified and unacceptable", and the working conditions for staff were also not satisfactory.

"The infrastructure is poorly designed, unsafe and dilapidated beyond repair. It should be closed," Inspector Rafter wrote.

Shortland and Cessnock were last inspected in 2018 and since then, both have increased their capacity with new accommodation units and modern health, employment programs, education and visit facilities.

The report said this was in "stark contrast" to the original section of Cessnock Correctional Centre.

Corrective Services NSW has already closed two of the four accommodation wings in that section.

The ICS also recommended the two centres, Cessnock and Shortland, be combined.

The inspections at Shortland and Cessnock correctional centres were carried out in March 2023, right before the state government election.

The report also recommended Corrective Services NSW ensured all eligible inmates were supported to access electoral roll enrolment and voting.

The themes of the 91 recommendations to address issues at the two jails and the NSW correctional system included recruitment, training and rostering of staff; infrastructure standards; accommodation and amenities; contraband detection; support for vulnerable people; access to health services; daily routines and time out of cells; visits; education and programs; and connection to Aboriginal culture.

The ICS was established in 2013 to independently oversee the state's custodial system.