Prisons have gone into lockdown in South Australia after unions claimed the state government has failed to address staff shortages.
Unionised corrections officers organised the lockdown on Tuesday in frustration over the issue, which began under the previous government.
"The Department (of Correctional Services) and minister have ignored our consistent calls since June last year to review the consequences of the previous government's discredited job-slashing policy," Public Service Association general secretary Natasha Brown said.
"Our members do not lock down prisons lightly. The action today is an indication of how serious our members' concerns are, and reflects the sheer frustration our members feel."
Since a prison restructure five years ago, staff have faced shortages that affect their safety and the wellbeing of prisoners, the union said.
In a media statement, it criticised the "desktop assessment" of staffing structures "destined to fail on delivering real world improvements in prison operations."
Earlier this month, the union sent the corrections department an 18-page proposal on ways to address staffing needs.
The government said it had acknowledged the proposal but had told the union it could not provide a short-term response.
However, it said 200 new staff had been hired in the past two years.
Correctional Services Minister Joe Szakacs said he spoke regularly with the union.
"The major concerns that have been raised today are about processes and the implementation of operational procedures that are now four or five years old, so we can only do so much responding in a timely way," he told journalists on Tuesday.
