Bunking debunkers debunked

by Vanessa Williams

April 10, 2008

WA corrective services minister Margaret Quirk has dismissed naysayers of her ‘double bunking’ initiative, saying it will help WA’s major prisons to safely house more jailbirds.

Double bunking is where extra beds are added to existing gaol cells. The practice has been taken up by the prisons department, which has issued a tender to add an extra 240 bunks to existing cells in three major WA prisons [eMU News, April 7].

Prisoner rights group Prison Reform of WA his week labelled double bunking a “quick fix” and a “recipe for disaster”.Ms Quirk said the practice was necessary to provide better prisoner accommodation, especially with the unprecedented growth in WA prisoner numbers during 2007.

“The bunks will assist with existing prisoner numbers,” she said, “and will decrease ligature points [ie suicide opportunities] which can occur with temporary bedding arrangements.”

The minister acknowledged two bunks in an average 2.6sqm jail cell was not an ideal solution, but said was far superior to having prisoners kip on a makeshift bed.

Bunk building is already underway in Bunbury Regional Prison, the Wooroloo Prison Farm, and Bandyup Women’s Prison. The latest 240-bunk tender will see cells at Perth’s Acacia, Hakea and Casuarina gaols similarly double bunked.