The future of the Northern Tasmanian prison has been questioned by a prisoner advocate and union after another damning report on Risdon Prison.
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United Workers Union Tasmanian secretary Jannette Armstrong said the state's Custodial Inspector's report again highlighted chronic staff shortages, lock-downs and prisoners missing out on training programs to integrate into the community.
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"If they can't even get the existing prison running properly, how on earth are they going to manage a new Northern prison?" Ms Armstrong said.
"The government is not listening to corrections officers who have big concerns about the design and function of the Northern prison.
"The solutions are clear, and the recommendations from this inspection report back up exactly what UWU members have been saying for literally years now.
"This government is failing correctional officers, they are failing the Tasmanian community, and they are failing the offenders who are supposed to be rehabilitated through our corrections system."
Tasmanian Prisoners Legal Service chairman Greg Barns also voiced concerns about the Northern prison in light of the Risdon report.
"This report confirms yet again that the Risdon Prison model is well and truly broken," Mr Barns said.
"So what is the point of replicating an expensive disaster if the government builds a Northern prison along the same lines?"
Mr Barns said the government needed to listen to the Custodial Inspector who had been raising concerns for three years.
Union delegate and corrections supervisor Phil Pregnell said there was a lack of staff and adequate facilities at Risdon Prison.
"It is an unsafe working environment and the lock-downs are not assisting inmates attend their courses," Mr Pregnell said.
In his report, Custodial Inspector Richard Connock said traineeships in prison industries should be implemented and that lock-downs directly impacted the completion of education and programs by prisoners.
"As I have noted in previous reports, the Tasmanian Prison Service is overstretched at almost every point due to the continual increase in prisoner numbers and existing infrastructure constraints," he said.
"This also creates system pressures in many areas including education, employment for prisoners and preparation for their release."
Corrections Minister Elise Archer has promised to implement all but one of Mr Connock's 39 recommendations.