New laws will hold inmates caught with contraband accountable and make facilities safer for officers, Minister for Corrections David Elliott announced yesterday.
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The reforms will tighten legislation to ensure inmates serving long sentences cannot avoid having more prison time added for contraband offences.
“Prisoners busted with drugs, weapons, mobile phones and other prohibited items should face more time behind bars – irrespective of the length of the sentence they’re already serving,” Mr Elliott said.
Currently, the Local Court cannot impose any additional prison time on a contraband offender who is already serving a term of more than five years for other crimes.
Attorney General Mark Speakman said the new laws allow magistrates to impose up to two years for a contraband offence on top of the prison sentence they are currently serving.
“This new measure will both deliver appropriate punishment for those who break the rules in custody and provide a real deterrent to prisoners who might be tempted to bring dangerous and forbidden items into our prisons,” Mr Speakman said.
The recent success of Operation Purge, which saw all 36 prisons raided, illustrates how serious the government is about having a zero tolerance approach to dangerous and illicit material.
“Inmates are on notice, if they try to undermine the safety and security of our prisons, they can expect serious consequences,” Mr Elliott said.
