Prison Officer Seriously Assaulted - Woodford (QLD)

9NEWS

Prison Officers Failed Again by Queensland Government Overcrowding and Ineffective Unions ...

Yet another Australian Prison Officer has been failed by an overcrowded prison system in Queensland.

Prison Officers have been warning the union backed ALP Government in Queensland that prison population numbers are so high, that something must give and our greatest fear is that it will lead to staff assaults.

7NEWS - Simon Love

At approximately 1500 on Tuesday 18 December 2018, a 45 year old Prison Officer was seriously assaulted at Woodford Correctional Centre in Queensland.

Our members are sickened by the assault and are calling for public support bring pressure onto the Queensland ALP Government to increase staffing levels and resources to significantly reduce the risks associated with massive overcrowding of the State's prison system.

Overcrowding, we're over it

Australian Prison Officers Association President Brian Newman said "This is a national crisis, our prison systems are overcrowded, overstretched and seriously under resourced.with low staffing to prisoner ratios. There is little wonder in the minds of Prison Officers why we see sky high rates of recidivism in Australia, there is a serious shortage of meaningful programs and opportunities to ensure that the core function of correcting offending behaviour has at least a chance of being effective. Prison Officers are over it." he said.

Registered Unions throughout Australia have continuously failed to deliver on the demands of their members and the desires of Prison Officers throughout Australia to increase staffing to prisoner ratios and reduce the risk of assault such as this against Prison Officers.

It's time for a national campaign with a single national voice for Prison Officers, calling for reforms to curtail the huge overcrowding issues that confront Prison Officers every day.