If you have visited a correctional centre, you will be familiar with random property searches carried out by the officers from the State Emergency Unit (S.E.U). These officers are part of a special squad and they are a trained swat team.

On one occasion a friend and myself proceeded to visit an inmate at Longbay prison. On arrival we were ushered into a hidden location, away from any view from the road. This time they were set up in the carpark under the eastern regional office.

An officer approached us and explained that this was a routine search of our property. We were told to stand facing a line whilst a sniffer dog smelt our scent. The dog approached my friend and sat down. We were informed that this was the signal that the dog had found contraband on a particular person. An officer informed us that our property was to be searched. Both of us were then ushered over towards a table where two officers were seated. The officers asked us who we were visiting and asked to see our identification. While the two officers were examining our property, two officers took me aside and questioned me about an incident that had happened inside the prison regarding the inmate I was intending to visit. They also questioned my friend.

They then decided to strip search me because the dog has given a signal that my friend had contraband on him. He was not strip searched.

I was taken to a toilet under the carpark by two female officers waving official badges at me. They demanded that I remove all articles of clothing and hand them to an officer. Once I had removed all my clothing, the officer started to search them. I was then ordered to lift up my feet, so that the officers could see that I had no contraband between my toes. I was then ordered to take out my hair tie and lift up my hair. The officers then demanded of me to squat several times so that the officers could see up my genitals. This was all conducted while I was naked in a toilet block. The whole procedure could have been conducted with more professionalism and more privacy. The sniffer dog's signal was not intended for me­it was directed at my friend ­ yet I was the unfortunate victim: treated as if I had committed some terrible crime.

I was not thanked for my co-operation, nor was I apologised to for their mistake. I proceeded to the visit feeling mentally raped of my privacy. I was made to feel that to visit an inmate at a correctional centre I had to relinquish my own rights and freedom. I was told that I had given away all my rights as soon as I stepped onto the prison complex. If I had blatantly refused the strip search I would have been taken down to the local police station, charged with resisting a strip-search and subsequently strip-searched anyway.
 

The cell blocks within the Port Phillip Private Prison are named after the ships of the "First Fleet" which brought English prisoners on the voyage of transportation to begin the first chapter of Australia's white history: the prison colony. Two hundred and ten years later, the experience of English penal colonialism, at the hands of Group 4 Correction Services Pty Ltd, is proving as horrific and lethal as the first invasion.

A SIX MONTH CHRONOLGY:
25 July 1997:
The Corrections Working Group of the Federation of Community Legal Centres tours the Port Phillip Prison three weeks prior to its official opening. The Corrections Working Group members meet with Group 4 Corporate Director, Steven Twinn, Prison Service Manager, Karen Linstrom, and Programs Manager, Klaus Walden-Baur. When questioned about why horizontal bars have been built on the inside of cell windows and the design of shower screens provided additional hanging points in 580 out of the 600 cells, Steven Twinn stated that the bars on the inside of the cells are there to "waterproof" the building and that there has been no conscious attempt to make cells suicide proof. Karen Linstrom stated that she had already given evidence in three coronial inquests and that if the Corrections Working Group gave her $600 000 that she would happily screen the internal bars.

18 August 1997:
Minister for Corrections, Bill McGrath, officially opened the prison stating that the new facility would be "heralding a new era in correctional facilities" and "would set new standards in correctional standards". McGrath attacked critics of the Government's privatisation agenda stating "Obviously these critics are not concerned about prisoners, their welfare or conditions."

Mid-September 1997:
Port Phillip Prison receives its first prisoners.

30 October 1997:
George Drinken, a twenty eight year old man, on remand, is found hanging from the shower rail hanging point. First death in custody only six weeks since the prison began receiving prisoners. Federation of Community Legal Centres/PJA demand that the Government comply with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and order the removal of strategic hanging points at the Port Phillip Prison and the Fulham Correctional Centre. Federation of Community Legal centres threatens legal action against the Government and each private prison corporation for failure to uphold their duty of care owed to prisoners and failing to implement the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody by not removing obvious structural hanging points.

6 November 1997:<
Corrections Working Group member raises issues related to the unacceptable suicide and self-harm risk to prisoners posed by hanging points with the Director of Monitoring and Assessment of the Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner (OCSC), Robin Trotter. She rejects demands to remove hanging points and continues to claim that the Government has implemented recommendation 165 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody which relates to the removal and screening of hanging points in custodial cells. December 1997:
A private detective, John Barclay, of Cobra Executive Protection, is hired and paid by Group 4 Correction Services, to undertake an "independent" report into George Drinken's death incustody at Port Phillip. Barclay is an ex- Chief Superintendent of the Victoria Police.

16 December 1997:
Adam Irwin, a twenty year old man on remand, is found hanged from a two meter high metal horizontal bar that crosses the middle of his cell from the shower screen. Community Legal Centres, PJA, the Prisoner's Action Group, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Liberty and the Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice collectively call for the removal of hanging points and condemn the Government for their management of private prisons. The State Government state that they are "happy" with the design of the prison and that "to remove hanging points from all cells would be to deny basic human rights" (The Age 19/12/98).

4 January 1998:
Vienh Chi Tuh, a twenty year old man on remand dies of a suspected drug overdose. ŒThe Age' (6/1/98) reveals that five men have died in custody at the Port Phillip Prison in the previous nine and a half weeks. Two other men are alleged to have died from natural causes. Both are said to have had terminal illnesses but neither were placed in the secure ward of St. Vincent's Hospital.

6 January 1998:
The families of George Drinken and Adam Irwin speak out on national television, against the deaths of their sons and their treatment at the hands of Group 4 and the State Government. Internal prison sources say that there have been over a hundred attempted suicides since the prison was opened; equivalent to one attempt per day. Another prisoner suffers a near-fatal overdose.

January 1998:
Mass protests against worsening prison conditions and mismanagement over the New Year period leads to 14 prisoners being transferred to Barwon prison one night. Brutal clashes erupt between staff and prisoners in the Charlotte Unit. The Community and Public Services Union (CPSU); the union representing some Port Phillip prison officers, state that staff levels are massively inadequate and that they received little support from Group 4 management.

30 January 1998:
Amnesty International raises the five deaths in custody in a nine and a half week period at the Port Phillip Prison in an international media release commemorating the 10th anniversary of the death in Western Australian police custody of eighteen year old, Stephen Wardle.

1 February 1998:
Senior Magistrate, Mr Brian Barrow, recommends for the second time that an Aboriginal person not serve any of his sentence in a private prison because of the offenders vulnerability in custody.

2 March 1998:
The Federation of Community Legal Centres Corrections Working Group sends a 25 page submission titled "Hanging Points at the Fulham Correctional Centre and the Port Phillip Prison and the Victorian Government's Implementation of recommendation 165 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody" to the Corrections Minister, Bill McGrath, and senior executives at the Department of Justice, Aboriginal Affairs, and Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) and Group 4 Correction Services. The submission critically examines the issues of hanging points at both prisons in relation to the Victorian Government's refusal to comply with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the ways in which the existence of hanging points constitute ongoing violations of the corporations and the Governments legislated and common law duty of care owed to prisoners in their care and custody. The submission also examines Victorian and Interstate coronial findings involving hanging points and deaths in custody and Victorian, interstate and international research on suicide, self-harm and cell design and construction.

7 March 1998:
The ŒHerald-Sun' reports that prison staff are fearful of their lives and of a major prison uprising because of staff shortages. Internal prison sources state that at least twelve cell fires have been lit in the past two weeks. Three cells within the Charlotte unit have been badly damaged and one fire necessitated staff crawling through thick black smoke to rescue a prisoner. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was failed to be notified in such cases.

Massive turnover in staff has lead Group 4 management to hire hard core ex-Pentridge staff.

7 March 1998:
A fifty one year old man serving the first day of his sentence is found hanging from a shower hanging point in his hospital room. This man sustained acute injuries and was dependent on a life support system in intensive care at St. Vincent's Hospital until his death on 19 March 1998. The ŒHerald-Sun' (8/3/98) also reported that a Victoria Police/Prison Squad investigation submitted to the Coroner's Court states that "the Port Phillip Prison is inadequately staffed and has major design faults which have led to the deaths of at least two inmates". Internal prison sources also claimed that over 62 officers (almost half the jails staff) have resigned in the last six months.

9 March 1998:
After the latest suicide attempt the Correctional Services Commissioner, John Van Groningen, states that "he is satisfied with the way Port Phillip was running" (Herald-Sun 9/3/98).

10 March 10 1998:
Corrections Minister, Bill McGrath, attacks critics of Victoria's prison and police custody systems by branding them as "bleeding hearts" and rejecting relentless calls for an independent inquiry into the Victorian Prison System by saying" jail is tough".

11 March 1998:
The Community and Public Sector Union claim that over 100 people have attempted to kill themselves within the prison in the past six months. Branch secretary, Karen Batt said "The staff have no support from management . They say drug overdoses are a daily occurrence, and they are struggling to cope". Justice Frank Vincent, Chairman of the parole Board, said "Regrettably, the current situation was not only predictable, it was in fact predicted" (The Age 11/3/98).

The Federation of Community Legal Centres calls for the resignation of Bill McGrath on the grounds of incompetence, at a commemoration of the lives of men who have died at the Port Phillip Prison. This commemoration took place on the steps of Parliament House.

11-12 March 1998 (9 pm-5 am):
After a fire started in the Scarborough South Unit, prisoners protesting against the worsening conditions within the prison and the strip searching of visitors, family, children and friends. As well as the bashings at the hand of police at the Melbourne Custody Centre which resulted in a riot for almost six hours, almost completely destroying the 52 bed unit and causing at least $300,000 damage. Security and Emergency Services Group Members and Victoria Police Special Operations Group were rushed to the Port Phillip Prison. In the midst of the riot a prisoner, speaking on a phone stated "We have just barricaded ourselves in and we are trying to protect ourselves ... we are on our last legs here. ... Everything just gets depressed that happens - especially in this prison - everything just gets depressed, depressed, depressed. Everything just gets swept under the mat ... There have been regular overdoses - quite regularly. There are fights going on. Officers who are placed in the units who specifically antagonise people" (Herald-Sun 12/3/98).

The fact that the Port Phillip Prison and the Fulham Correctional Centre could be designed and built in blatant defiance of the recommendations into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody is another expression of the genocidal racism that is so entrenched in the Australian "criminal justice" system.

18 March 1998:
Group 4 Securities World Boss, David Banks flew into Melbourne saying he was brought in to "do whatever it takes to address the problems" (The Australian, 21 March 1998).

19 March 1998:
Remand prisoner Rodney Koers, 34 was found hanging in his cell at 1.45 am. We understand that prior to going to court the previous day, he had been on a SASH Watch (suicide and self harm) yet on returning to the prison from court he was no longer on the SASH Watch.

19 March 1998:
A 51 year old prisoner who had attempted to kill himself on the 7th March, died in hospital. The fourth death by hanging at Port Phillip Prison.

20 March 1998:
John Van Groningen was appointed to a taskforce to investigate problems at the prison. This is the same man who has defended the prison for weeks/months and who has stated publicly that he has full confidence in the management of the prison!

Already, four men have used the hanging points which form part of the shower. At every opportunity, the Correctional Services Commissioner, John Van Groningen and Bill McGrath have sought to normalise and trivialise ongoing deaths in custody and attempted suicides at the Port Phillip Prison. They have both attacked their critics and shielded Group 4 from public accountability. All this has been done to deflect attention from the fact that both the Minister and John Van Groningen are wholly responsible for what is occurring within the prison and that it is their individual and collective arrogance and inaction that is costing lives and causing unimaginable grief for those families and friends who are left to collect and bury their loved ones. Bill McGrath and John Van Groningen are mandated by the Corrections Act (1986) to "take all reasonable steps for the safe custody and welfare of the prisoners". This statutory duty of care cannot be "contracted out". It is shared by both the prison company and the Government.

Furthermore, John Van Groningen, as the Correctional Services Commissioner, is widely empowered under the terms of the management contract between the Government and the prison corporation to "take such action as he sees fit to respond to a death of a Prisoner while in the Care and Control of the Contractor including conducting an independent inquiry". Clearly, Van Groningen could have demanded that hanging points be screened/ removed after the hanging of the first man to die in Port Phillip Prison, George Drinken, on 30 October 1997. Instead Van Groningen has claimed that to remove specific hanging points would mean that prisoners would be denied beds, televisions etc. This is a denial and distortion of the enormous risk that these structural hanging points pose to prisoners. If it was the sons of Ministers and Parliamentarians hanging within this prison all these issues would have been resolved prior to the prison opening. Bill McGrath's and John Van Groningen's public statements clearly express a view of prisoners' being expendable commodities.

Visitors, lawyers and even the police have complained relentlessly about long delays in order to have visits and no privacy, nor safeguards and legislation governing the use of the hand scan biometric identification system that is being used by Group 4. The biometrics means that every visitor has to submit to a handscan to enter and exit the prison. What happens to this personal information and whether this information is passed on to other government or private sector data bases is unknown and unregulated. Furthermore, the biometric system only works when there is enough staff who are sufficiently trained to operate the system - this is a rare event. What is blatantly clear is that the biometrics at the prison, criminalises prisoners' visitors; their families, friends, children, lovers, parents , lawyers, activists, everyone that provides a life line to the human beings inside the prison.

The most relentless complaints from people held at Port Phillip Prison relate to the fact that there is nothing to do and the few staff in the prison will never give you a straight answer. There is little work at the prison and knowledge and access to education appears to be extremely variable. As one prisoner told us "they let us out for twelve hours then they lock us up for twelve hours". The rules governing the prison appear to change all the time and are applied inconsistently.

Standovers by some prisoners over other prisoners who are on the prison methadone program are rampant. This is also the case at the Metropolitan Women's' Correctional Centre and is the result of the "War on Drugs" this and previous governments have brutally waged within prisons where there is no room for harm minimisation practices such as needle exchanges, bleach, condoms, detoxification units and an expanded methadone program. Complaints about assaults and standovers of prisoners on the methadone program at the Port Phillip Prison were lodged with the Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner on the 9th February 1998. Six weeks later there has been no response.

Food has become contaminated at least three times since Christmas. In February prisoners began lighting cell fires to protest the conditions Within three weeks there had been over twelve individual fires. Prisoners have been complaining about the relentless strip searching of their families, children and friends.

Group 4 blames the media
Group 4 blames the media, Jeff Kennett blamed drugs and threatened to end contact visits, Bill McGrath became even more incomprehensible than usual and John Van Groningen talked about strip searching babies. No one has taken responsibility for the riot or asked why men destroyed the unit. Since the riot it has transpired that there was no co-ordination of the security and fire fighting procedures, lack of fire fighting equipment in four of the 14 units at the prison and little support for prison staff from management. The Prison Officer's Union have imposed a 23 hour lockdown because Group 4 management have refused to negotiate fully over safety issues. At the time of writing, prisoners remain in 23 hour lockdown ­ waiting for additional staff and a National Safety Council audit of occupational health and safety to be undertaken. The Union has demanded more staff and access to full riot gear but have omitted to ask for better training and better management.

Contributed by the People's Justice Alliance, Victoria. The PJA is an alliance of groups and individuals who are opposed to the privatisation of the criminal justice system, specifically prisons. In addition PJA is concerned with struggles to ensure the rights of people within the criminal justice system and is working for the implementation of humane alternatives to prison.

PJA can be contacted at
PO Box 1567, Collingwood, Victoria, 3066;
email: pjan@vicnet.net.au;
website: www.vicnet.net.au/~pjan/

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