The legislation is set to be introduced when parliament resumes next week. (Nathan Coates )
In short:
The Northern Territory government will introduce legislation to parliament next week enabling the Corrections Commissioner to source prison guards from interstate and private companies.
It comes as the NT prison population continues to soar, with a record 2,702 prisoners housed in territory jails and police watch houses as of Monday.
What's next?
The union representing prison guards is considering a vote of no confidence in Commissioner Matthew Varley.
The Northern Territory government is set to contract private and interstate prison guards to help staff its jails, as inmate numbers in the territory continue to soar to record levels.
The latest Department of Corrections data shows there were 2,702 people in custody in the NT as of Monday, marking a new record.
The population has surged by about 20 per cent — or more than 500 people — since the NT's new Country Liberal Party (CLP) government came to power in August and rolled out a suite of new criminal offences and tougher bail laws.
On Friday, NT Deputy Chief Minister and Corrections Minister Gerard Maley admitted the government’s own recruitment efforts could not keep pace with the steep rise in prisoner numbers.
He said in response, the government would introduce legislation to enable the corrections commissioner to appoint “special corrections and parole officers, including external workforce and interstate corrections personnel”, when parliament returns next week.
Gerard Maley says the NT government is currently paying its prison guards $11 million in overtime each year. (ABC News: Christopher Fitzpatrick)
“We're not about privatising prison, we're about increasing the workforce,” he said.
“We are taking action to ensure the corrections system remains functional, effective and safe.”
He said the government was currently paying its prison guards $11 million in overtime each year and described the corrections system as being under “immense pressure”.
Record prisoner numbers prompts plea to UN
Photo shows PMC watch house interior 2
Mr Maley said the government did not yet know how much it would spend on contracting additional guards or how many it would seek to employ.
He said the government would seek bids from specialised private contractors such as Serco and G4S, and acknowledged some officers may need to be flown in from interstate.
“Some might be fly-in, some might be fly-out,” he said.
“I don’t know how the actual details are going to work but they will be employed by the [Corrections] Commissioner to work in the workforce."
Erina Early says the government has "no plans where to put these prisoners". (ABC News: Michael Franchi)
Union concerned by move
The United Workers Union, which represents NT correctional officers, has strongly opposed the measure, arguing it will result in underqualified staff manning the prisons.
“This is the start of privatisation of corrections,” the union’s NT secretary Erina Early said.
“I’ve had a lot of phone calls from very anxious correctional officers.
“Their concern is that they are a profession, they’re qualified, they’re skilled — they have to do certain training to be a correctional officer.
“With the amendments to the Corrections Act, no more qualifications are required.”
Based on the latest estimates, more than one per cent of the NT’s population is now behind bars, including at the Darwin city watch house on Mitchell Street. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
Mr Maley denied the measure would reduce prison workforce standards and said any extra guards would need to be suitably qualified.
“Those people cannot just be anyone off the street, they need to [have] the skill and the satisfactory education requirements that the Commissioner sees fit to give them their job,” he said.
In recent months, the surge in NT prisoner numbers has led the Department of Corrections to enact rolling lockdowns, house more than 100 prisoners in police watch houses and shift large numbers of prisoners between Central Australia and the Top End.
The government is poised to soon open a long-awaited 96-bed modular block at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre, while the recently reopened Berrimah prison is set to add 200 beds to the system by March.
Lawyers have raised serious concerns over prisoners’ access to hygiene inside the crowded facilities, with one independent politician raising the issue with the United Nations.
Ms Early said union members believed the NT government’s efforts to pass more punitive law-and-order measures had come at prison guards’ expense.
Michael Hebb says Corrections will conduct an internal investigation after a prisoner escape on Thursday. (ABC News: Lillian Rangiah)
“They just dealt with the law-and-order side, and we understand the government's position on that, but they had no plans where to put these prisoners," she said.
Ms Early said union members had lost “all trust” in Commissioner Varley and were considering industrial action, including a vote of no confidence.
In a statement, a Corrections spokesperson said the changes were "about our continued growth as a modern and capable Corrections service".
"The appointment of special officers and contractors means Corrections will have the support of interstate colleagues to relieve the pressures our staff have been experiencing over a sustained period," they said.
Prisoner escapes from city watch house
The news came as NT police searched for a Corrections prisoner who escaped from the Darwin city police watch house on Thursday afternoon.
It marked the second escape from the facility, which is located above a busy CBD shopping centre, in recent months.
Late on Friday, police reported Kris Cooper, 33, had been re-arrested "without incident" in the suburb of Ludmilla at about 5.20pm.
Kris Cooper escaped from Corrections custody in the Darwin city police watch house on Thursday. (Supplied: NT Police)
Assistant Corrections Commissioner Michael Hebb said Corrections would conduct an internal investigation, having previously taken over the facility.
“The actual incident itself is under a fairly in-depth internal review and investigation to understand how the escape occurred,” he said on Friday.
“If there’s systems or processes that need to be reviewed, we’ll work through that.”