Prisons across New South Wales were plunged into lockdown and emergency managed by a skeleton staff after thousands of officers walked off the job.
But late on Thursday afternoon, after an urgent application by the state government, the Industrial Relations Commission ordered the officers to cease the strike by 6am Friday.
The spontaneous strike was triggered by a court decision on Wednesday to not extend the sentence of an inmate who was found guilty of assaulting four prison officers, Stewart Little, the general secretary of the Public Services Association, said. The four prison officers each suffered serious facial injuries.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
The magistrate gave the inmate, who is now in Goulburn correctional centre and due for parole soon, a three-year community corrections order for the assault against the officers.
Little told media before the commission made its order that assaults by inmates against staff have increased by 42% over the past three years due to a rising number of inmates on remand.
“My phone has gone into meltdown, I’ve had prison officers ringing me all day absolutely incandescent with rage at the signal this magistrate has sent to the community,” he said.
He said about 5,000 prison officers had walked off the job, with officers in every prison across the state joining the strike.
Leon Taylor, the NSW deputy commissioner for corrective services, said the prisons were secure and safe on Thursday, despite the strike. He said a skeleton staff had provided inmates essential services while they were in lockdown.
Little said the strike would continue until there was “justice” for the four prison officers, who were all hospitalised. He said two will not return to work as officers again.
But the minister for corrections, Anoulack Chanthivong, said he understood prison staff were angry but “a decision of the independent judiciary is not a basis for industrial action”.
Chanthivong said the director of public prosecutions may choose to appeal against the magistrate’s decision, but that was a matter for them.
Taylor agreed the rates of inmate assaults on staff is rising.
The remand population reached a record high in June, making up 44% of the prison population, according to Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) data released in August.
Bocsar has said domestic violence offenders are driving that increase.
Little said: “Many of these inmates have come in as a result of the government’s right crackdown on domestic violence. So obviously, we’ve got people, not just with substance problems, but behavioural problems, and quite often they’re as a direct result of that. We’ve seen an increase in assaults.”
The shadow minister for corrections, Adam Crouch, said he thinks staff shortages and increased lockdowns of prisoners were also contributing to the number of assaults increasing.
“I’m hearing that from prison officers all the time. They feel that their only way out is to effectively take sick leave or go on stress leave because there are not enough of them dealing with the presence that we have in the corrections system at the moment.”
The union had claimed the strike would also leave local, district and supreme courts “unable to function”.
The district court warned on Thursday that if the strike continued the sentencing for former MP and convicted rapist Gareth Ward, which is scheduled for Friday morning, could be delayed. Ward is now remanded in custody in Cessnock prison.
Chanthivong said after the commission ordered prison officers back: “I will continue to talk directly with correctional officers and the Public Service Association to achieve our shared goal of keeping our correctional centres safe for staff”.
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.
If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.
Secure Messaging in the Guardian app
The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.
If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select ‘Secure Messaging’.
SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post
If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.
Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
