The state's Auditor-General has found the Tasmanian Prison Service has failed to accurately predict inmate numbers which has caused staff shortages and a dramatic rise in staff overtime.
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Auditor-General Rod Whitehead in his report on prison resources said the Justice Department had neglected to use modelling to track prisoner numbers and had ignored government policies attributable to a rise in prisoner numbers.
"My overall conclusion is that the Tasmanian Prison Service hasn't been using its resources efficiently and this has had an adverse impact on the effectiveness in the way in which the prison service has been operating," he said.
Mr Whitehead said the rise in prisoner numbers had caused issues for the service's budget, workforce numbers and rostering.
He said overtime worked by prison officers had been used to cover up staffing shortfalls and vacancies.
"Our understanding is that the department has struggled to fill some of those vacancies in the past," Mr Whitehead said.
He said the use of overtime had caused significant expense for the department and increased sick leave.
Mr Whitehead said poor staffing had resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of hours prisoners spent confined to their cells.
He said the Justice Department would soon roll out modelling to better predict prisoner numbers.
Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Tom Lynch said officers were working themselves to breaking point to hold the prison system together.
"We have a prison system which is overloaded with inmates and under-resourced with staff," Mr Lynch said.
"It's a system in crisis - it has been for two years - and all the Hodgman government has done is continue to change laws to put more people in prison for longer."
He said prisoners were getting less access to training and other rehabilitation services as a result of staffing issues.
Corrections Minister Elise Archer said 119 additional correctional officers had been employed since May 2016 and recruitment was underway for a further 90 officers by the end of next year.
She said the Justice Department was reviewing the prison service roster and had committed additional resources to improve the management of worker compensation claims.
There are about 350 prison officers employed by the prison service.