Record prisoner numbers mean most Western Australian jails are bursting at the seams and failing to meet minimum international standards, the prison watchdog says.
The Inspector of Custodial Services' 2023-24 scathing annual report details how the system is struggling to cope with increasing and complex populations while resources are stretched.
Overcrowding, understaffing, prisoners being locked in cells for unacceptable periods of time and a lack of access to rehabilitation programs and support services, were documented in the report.
"This year has been a tumultuous one for many reasons, including the crisis in youth justice and the major system-level challenges facing the adult custodial environment due to record prisoner numbers, infrastructure limitations, and significant staffing issues," Inspector Eamon Ryan said in the report released on Wednesday.
"First and foremost of these is the devastating and tragic loss of Cleveland Dodd to suicide in October 2023, which must now lead to whole of system reforms in youth justice in WA."
Cleveland was an Indigenous teen who fatally self-harmed in his cell at Unit 18 in Casuarina Prison.
The Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services had been reporting the growing issues and risks to young people in custody for more than a decade but its advice had not been fully heeded, Mr Ryan said.
The report detailed a sharp rise in remand prisoners, which drove the prison system's overall population up by 15 per cent to 7792 inmates on June 30, compared to the same time last year.
Conditions at Hakea Prison were so concerning, Mr Ryan issued a rare show cause notice to the WA Department of Justice.
Mr Ryan said inmates at Hakea Prison, a facility for men held on remand, were found to be at serious risk and "subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment".
In the notice, the inspector detailed evidence prisoners were being held in conditions that failed to meet minimum international standards and regularly unable to access fresh air and exercise or time outside of their cell.
The notice detailed how inmates were unable to maintain contact with their families, were held in unhygienic conditions and forced to eat in their cells, with extended periods of 15 hours between meals.
Lockdown hours were increasing at the prison, culminating in days where some inmates were not released from their cell.
Self-harming and attempted suicide events increased, with a correlation evident between more restrictive unlock hours and harming events.
"The correlation was clear and evident - the risk to the wellbeing and lives of prisoners cannot be ignored," Mr Ryan said.
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