Parklea prison operators failed: report
The private operator of a scandal-plagued Sydney prison failed to address problems including drugs and weapon smuggling as well as assaults, a parliamentary report has found.
GEO Group has operated Parklea Correctional Centre in Sydney's west since it was privatised in 2009 but the NSW parliamentary report, released on Friday, found the company didn't run the prison effectively leading to inmate revolts in mid-2017.
"The problems of security and contraband that erupted into crisis at the Parklea Correctional Centre in 2017 were symptomatic of more longstanding fundamental failures of leadership and culture in the private prison," the upper house committee report states.
It backs claims by the prison guards union that there were unsafe work practices, high staff turnover of about 80 per cent and poor management.
More than 100 staff were disciplined for serious misconduct during 2017.
"That all these cultural and management problems existed in the high-risk prison environment - where the potential for violence and unrest as well as for mistreatment of inmates are all significant - is extremely troubling," the report states.
The committee also pointed the finger at Corrective Services NSW, finding it didn't intervene early enough to avoid the crisis.
"There were readily identifiable and escalating problems with contraband, excessive use of force and assaults at least from 2016.
"If it was true that during this time CSNSW had strict oversight of the operations at Parklea, then it is difficult to understand why more immediate interventions were not made then."
The parliamentary committee was set up in 2017 following media reports of inmates smuggling drugs, weapons and mobile phones behind bars.
A video uploaded to YouTube in mid-2017 showed an inmate wielding a knife and boasting about his stash of drugs.
The inmate described the security arrangements at the prison as "a dead-set joke" and alleged guards were involved in the mobile phone smuggling.
An inmate was stabbed at the prison in December 2017 while another inmate set fire to a blanket in his cell in January 2018.
The report makes 13 recommendations including that the government publish contracts for all privately-operated prisons in full.
GEO Group in September was dumped as the prison's operator in favour of Australian company Broadspectrum and Management and Training Corporation from the United States.
The joint Australian-US venture will take charge from April 2019.
Corrections Minister David Elliott on Friday blamed the former Labor government for privatising the prison and striking a "flawed contract" with GEO.
He said the coalition had "learned a lot" and it would "hold the next operator much more accountable".
Corrective Services NSW was forced to intervene throughout GEO Group's contract period to ensure improvements to safety and security, Mr Elliott added.
