Parliamentary questioning confirms bullying issue still present in Bunbury Regional Prison

Recent questions asked by the Opposition in Parliament over the past fortnight have highlighted the issue of staff behavioural complaints which continue to occur at Bunbury Regional Prison. Six bullying complaints by staff against staff have been made so far this year, as well as one sexual harassment complaint. The numbers were revealed to Parliament on June 12 when shadow corrective services minister Peter Collier asked in the Upper House how many complaints were still being made by staff in 2024. Stephen Dawson, acting as the Minister representing the Minister for Corrective Services, gave the response based on information provided by the Department of Justice. A week later, Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia faced questions about the prison from Opposition Leader Shane Love in the Legislative Assembly. The questions came in the wake of the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services’ release of its report last week into the BRP following its 2023 inspection. The report outlined chronic staffing shortages present in the prison which were leading to services within the prison being stretched thin. It was also noted that despite a big number of staff being happy with their work, a section of staff was disillusioned and disappointed with management’s handling of bullying claims among staff. In his question, Mr Love described the findings of the report and asked the Minister what he had done to address the “concerning” situation at the facility. Mr Papalia responded by saying the inspection occurred a year ago and the situation was not as bad as his counterpart described. “The thing about reports that are tabled by the Inspector of Custodial Services is like so many snapshot assessments — they are retrospective, so they look backwards, it is a rear-vision mirror report on something that was the case some time ago,” he said. “The conditions at Bunbury Prison, despite your (Mr Love’s) interpretation of the report are not so dire. “That aside, the conditions and situation in respect to claims about the personnel complaints and complaints of bullying and things of that nature are historical, therefore what you’re claiming about Bunbury Prison is not current.” Following a supplementary question by Mr Love over what he called the “deteriorating” conditions of the prison, a small back and forth broke out between the pair when the Opposition Leader said it seemed Mr Papalia “did not believe” what was found in the report. Mr Papalia responded by saying the Inspector of Custodial Services provided an “invaluable” service. “The Inspector of Custodial Services fulfils a wonderful purpose, independent oversight of our corrective services system,” he said. “It means he reports to me and then Parliament about the status of corrective services sites right across the state on a regular basis.” He also assured the Department of Custodial Services was on the right track. “With this particular report, what you’re talking about is something that was the situation some time ago,” he said. “It is no longer the case but there is always more to be done ... in every corrective services site, there’s always more to be done but I am very comfortable that we have appointed, I have appointed, the Government has appointed, an excellent Commissioner for Corrective Services. “He is addressing a range of challenges right across the Corrective Services portfolio but he is doing a really good job and the prison and corrective services system is in far better hands now than it was.” In response to the report, a Department of Justice spokesperson said staff were encouraged to report bad behaviour. “The department is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and employee conflicts and complaints are handled in accordance with its ethical standards of behaviour,” they said. “In line with the department’s code of conduct, all staff are encouraged to report suspected breaches of discipline. “There are various reporting mechanisms available to staff which include an online complaints portal and an anonymous reporting mechanism, Safe2Say.”