A lockdown at Port Augusta Prison has been lifted and union members have returned to work this morning.
The lockdown commenced on Monday after correctional officers "ceased unsafe work" under the Work Health and Safety Act, demanding that prison management make their workplace safe after inmates were found to be escaping from their cells.
Officers discovered prisoners were removing the windows from a high-security accommodation block to retrieve contraband from prison grounds during the night.
The assistant general secretary from the Public Service Association, Christian Hagivassilis, believed that the Correctional Services department had failed to "adequately respond to recent safety breaches".
"This accommodation block houses some dangerous prisoners," he said.
"They're essentially escaping to bring contraband items back into the prison.
"We could be talking about drugs, weapons and mobile phones — all of these things compromise the security and controlled nature of the prison environment."
For three days, prisoners were restricted to their cells and were unable to leave for exercise or other activities.
According to Mr Hagivassilis, members believed the department's response to their safety concerns to be "cursory" and "superficial".
"Ultimately, the officers want to feel safe returning to their normal duties at work," Mr Hagivassilis said.
"The prison needs to remain in lockdown until they are satisfied that their safety and security issues have been addressed," he added.
Additionally, Mr Hagivassilis said the breach brought up broader issues at the prison like "job slashing", where the removal of crucial staffing posts such as night patrols have ceased.
"[It] appears to be arbitrarily through the department's benchmarking process that we [the Public Service Association] have been fighting for the return of for quite some time," he said.
In response, The Department for Correctional Services lodged a dispute in the South Australian Employment Tribunal late Wednesday afternoon following the officers’ decision to cease unsafe work at the Port Augusta Prison.
Mr Hagivassilis said that the Public Service Association staff represented members well into the night at the tribunal.
“The Tribunal commissioner made a series of orders, including that the Department would undertake a program of works to ensure the accommodation units are safe and secure for our members to resume work,” he said.
Deputy chief executive at Department for Correctional Services, Hayley Mills, commends the officers at the Port Augusta Prison for quickly detecting the breach.
"The department has immediately and comprehensively commenced working through a remedial cure plan," she said.
"On top of this we have also engaged external experts, with unequivocal briefs to deliver us a solution, to ensure this breach couldn't be replicated again."
"[I] appreciate that we're dealing with a staff confidence issue and I need staff to feel assured by the multiple layers of additional security protection we're working to put in place," she said.
After the security breach, two units on the premises were closed due to not having satisfactory mitigations in place.
Additionally, the department is working with the South Australian Police force to investigate the illegal activity.
"There has been significant disruptions to the prisoner population, including moving a group of prisoners that were identified as potentially being involved," Ms Mills said.
"This is a very high priority for us and [the plan] will be deployed as quickly as possible."
Ms Mills confirmed that the breach occurred with the secure perimeter of Port Augusta Prison and that there was no risk to the general public.
A Public Service Association spokesperson said "The PSA will be seeking to hold the Department to account.
[We] cautiously welcome the latest developments. If the remedial work fixes the problem and eliminates the risk of the escapes at night that have allowed contraband to get into prisons that will be a positive outcome."
