The National Network condemns the latest escalation of strike action by the Public Service Association (PSA) and related state actors, whose decisions have again plunged South Australia’s prisons and courts into chaos.
‘These actions are not benign “industrial measures”, they are reckless decisions that place the lives, safety, and human rights of prisoners directly at risk,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘Once again, criminalised people are being used as bargaining chips in a wage dispute that has nothing to do with them, yet everything is being taken out on their bodies,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘We are receiving reports from inside that prisoners are being forced to carry out the basic duties of officers who have walked off the job. Meals in some prisons have consisted of nothing more than fruit. People are being held in prolonged lockdowns, suffering extreme isolation, distress, and physical deterioration. The State’s duty of care has been abandoned at the exact moment prisoners are most vulnerable. This must end,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
Workers have every right to fight for fair pay. But nobody has the right – not a union, not a government, not a single officer – to violate human rights or gamble with the lives of prisoners in order to win a pay rise. ‘If prisoners were doing this, it would be labelled a riot, and they would be met with riot squads, solitary confinement, and years added to their sentence. When officers do it, it is politely called “industrial action”. Let’s call it what it really is: holding justice and prisoner safety at ransom,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘The government must not capitulate to tactics that place lives in danger. If the PSA wants a pay rise, they must find a path that does not rely on endangering criminalised people, people who cannot walk away, cannot refuse the terms of protest, cannot defend themselves, and cannot even call their families,’ said Tabitha Lean.
Right now:
- SA major courts across the state are closed.
- Prisoners are being denied court appearances, bail applications, and justice.
- Victims awaiting trials are being told to wait indefinitely.
- People are locked down in cells for up to 24 hours at a time, with no phone calls, no medical transfers, no legal visits, and in some cases, we have heard meals consisting of pieces of fruit.
- Prisoners on home detention are left in uncertainty as monitoring staff abandon their posts.
‘When the PSA claims to be protecting worker safety, they do so while placing criminalised people in the most unsafe conditions imaginable. You cannot claim moral authority over workplace harm while causing harm to others,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘Prisoners are not bargaining tools. We are human beings who deserve dignity, safety, and basic human rights. Those rights do not disappear because a union has decided that now is a convenient time to escalate pressure,’ said Tabitha Lean.
The National Network urge:
To the PSA:
Fight for your wage rise, but stop putting prisoners’ lives at risk. Stop exploiting the people you cage to advance your financial gain. Find another way.
To the Government:
Do not concede to coercive tactics that weaponise the incarceration system. Show leadership. Fix the system that has allowed this situation to escalate, but do not do so on the backs of imprisoned people.
To the Community:
See this clearly. If prisoners behaved in this way, they would be punished as violent offenders. But when officers walk out and leave people locked in cells without food, medical care, or sunlight, the state calls it “last resort” industrial action. It is not. It is negligence. It is exploitation. And it is potentially lethal.
Prisoners are not collateral damage. Our lives cannot be held to ransom in someone else’s industrial dispute. This must end now.
For further comment, please contact Debbie Kilroy on 0419 762 474 or Tabitha Lean on 0499 780 226
