PROFESSOR RICHARD HARDING, FIRST INSPECTOR OF CUSTODIAL SERVICES, TO LEAVE POSITION ON 31 JULY

Richard Harding, appointed as the inaugural Inspector from 1st August 2000, will step down at the end of this month after eight years in the position. Western Australia is the only State that has an autonomous inspectorate reporting to Parliament on the conditions of
imprisonment, the successes and failures of the custodial and correctional system and the performance of the Department of Corrective Services.

The post was created in response to the then Government’s wish to establish a privatelymanaged prison – a move that raised concerns of the Opposition parties as to the accountability not only of the proposed private sector but also that of the public sector, which was just emerging from the impact of the major riot at Casuarina Prison on Christmas Day 1998.

Professor Harding stated that he was pleased that, in his time at the helm, the Inspector’s Office had overcome the initial suspicion and even hostility of the operational Department. It was now better understood that external scrutiny can identify problems that are too close to the people on the ground and more particularly at Head Office for them to see. He was also pleased at the level of acceptance by prisoners. Inspection staff were not perceived as “just another suit”; the use of focus groups during inspections, surveys before inspections and regular follow-up visits meant that their voices were being heard and their sense of fairness
enhanced. Yet in no sense were inspection staff “prisoner advocates”.

Professor Harding said that the overall standard of prisons had improved markedly over the last eight years. Many of the improvements were directly attributable to the reports and recommendations made by his Office. He particularly referred to the following matters:
• Improved understanding of and approach to the needs of Aboriginal prisoners;
• The development and implementation of a “women-centred philosophy of imprisonment” that takes better account of the needs and social antecedents of women;
• A reduction in the frequency of suicides by prisoners, particularly Aboriginals;
• Fairer treatment and improved amenities for prisoners held in protection;
• Enhanced understanding of the absolute necessity in such a vast State to improve prisoner transportation conditions and processes;
• The maturing of the private prison arrangements and performance to the point where Acacia was now a good performer within the whole system and a standardsetter in some significant ways;
• The recognition by the Department and Government that, from a public health point of view, it is essential that prisoner health services be mainstreamed into general health services rather than left marginalized within a Department whose primary responsibility and skills are custodial and correctional; and
• Strengthening community links with prisons and public understanding of the overall problems and dilemmas of correctional management.
Of course, all of these matters are still “work in progress”, and always will be. But each of them is now firmly on the agenda.

Professor Harding also referred to other inputs his Office has made into policy. These include:
• Successfully arguing for the development of new custodial management facilities in the Kimberley, particularly with the commitment to the new Derby prison and a work camp in the Wyndham area;
• More generally, raising the profile of the work camp approach to training and reentry, particularly for Aboriginal prisoners;
• Successfully arguing against the expensive, unnecessary and regressive notion Western Australia needs a “prison precinct” to accommodate up to 7,500 prisoners;
• Raising understanding at Government level that a crucial component of a balanced correctional policy is a comprehensive regional policy.

In these regards, Professor Harding noted that in 2002 it was his own intervention that prevented the Department’s proposal to close Bunbury and Roebourne prisons from going ahead. He also referred to the Department’s lukewarm attitude towards Karnet – one of the State’s most effective prisons from the point of view of rehabilitation and re-entry – and its apparent willingness to close it so as to facilitate expansion of Alcoa’s activities.

Professor Harding said that he left the position of Inspector at a time when autonomous inspection was certain to become the norm, rather than the exception. This was because the Commonwealth Government had publicly committed to ratify the Optional protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other forms of Cruel, Unusual and Degrading Treatment and Punishment. An aspect of that Protocol was that all States would have to set up fully independent inspectorates. In the last eight years, the WA Inspector’s Office had established itself as a model for other States to emulate.

The Office had an excellent international reputation. In establishing it in 2000, the Government of the day, urged along by the Opposition parties, had adopted a strong model of accountability in the governance of a key human service.

Professor Harding put on the record his appreciation of the support his Office had received from each of the responsible portfolio Ministers during his time in office – Peter Foss, Jim McGinty, Michelle Roberts, John D’Orazio and Margaret Quirk. He also thanked the many staff that had worked with him during this period.

After 31 July Professor Harding will be contactable at richard.harding@uwa.edu.au and on
0403-387-440.

Richard Harding
Inspector of Custodial Services