Port Augusta prison has gone into lockdown after, according the corrections union, safety concerns raised by the facilities officers were not adequately addressed.
The officers at the prison placed the Port Augusta Prison into lockdown on Monday in response to the Correctional Services Department’s handling of recent incidents that involve inmates removing windows from a high-security accommodation block to retrieve contraband from the prison grounds at night.
Public Service Association general secretary Natasha Brown said the prison’s officers had “ceased unsafe work” under the Work Health and Safety Act.
Saying the department’s response, so far, has been cursory, and demanding that management make their workplace safe, she described their approach to its duty of care to prison staff and the prison population as cavalier.
A Correctional Services Department spokeswoman said there was no risk to public safety and essential services were continuing to be provided at the prison, with the Department currently undertaking the proper assessment of an internal security breach that occurred.
