Prison Officers have a risky job, and 13 out of 14 prisons in WA are overcrowded.

Now the WA government is talking about cutting the number of prison officers. This will mean even fewer Prison Officers will be managing the prisoners and keeping the community safe.

WAPOU has attempted to help the Department of Corrective Services conduct the Safe Staffing Review by providing suggestions about what measures could be taken to run WA’s prison more efficiently – without cutting into the marrow of our frontline staff who keep the community safe.

An independent Review Team will be submitting a draft assessment of Safe Staffing levels to the Commissioner Ian Johnson on the 7 July.

Depending on the recommendations in this report, WAPOU will be consulting with Prison Officers in all 14 prisons across WA, to make sure their voices and concerns are heard.

The test for this review is to see whether it actually delivers the Safe Staffing numbers that Prison Officers know are needed because they are the people at risk on the frontline daily.