Broome Prison Failures Put Community Safety At Risk

Media Release | 22 January 2026

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Adam Hort MLA
Shadow Minister for Police; Corrective Services; Youth

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A damning report from the independent Inspector of Custodial Services has found conditions
at Broome Prison is directly undermining community safety in the Kimberley.

The Inspector warns the brutal conditions at the prison are leaving people worse off, with men
and women released back into the community no better than when they entered custody.
“Prison is meant to rehabilitate people and return them to the community less likely to
reoffend, but the Inspector has made it clear Broome Prison is doing the exact opposite,”
Shadow Minister for Corrective Services Adam Hort said.

“When people are released hardened by intolerable conditions, it is local families and
communities who are left to deal with the consequences. This is not just a prison failure; it is
a community safety failure.”

The report details severe overcrowding, pest infestations and degrading living conditions, with
prisoners sleeping on floors and spending long periods locked down without access to
meaningful rehabilitation.

It also raises serious safety concerns after women were forced to share units with male
prisoners due to bed shortages.

“Brutal, overcrowded and pest-ridden conditions do not rehabilitate anyone, they warehouse
people and make reoffending more likely,” Mr Hort said.

“Forcing women to share units with male prisoners is utterly disgraceful and breaches the
most basic principles of safety and corrective services.

“The Labor Government announced upgrades in 2017 and began planning a replacement
prison in 2019, yet nearly a decade later there is still no final site confirmed and not a single
shovel in the ground.

“This is just another example of the Cook Labor Government being good at announcements
and completely failing when it comes to delivery.

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Media contact: Hayden Tognela – 0467 044 028

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