Jesuit Social Services has called for immediate air-conditioning of Alice Springs Correctional Centre to address climate change impacts on incarcerated individuals.
Jesuit Social Services chief executive Julie Edwards said the organisation supports the Northern Territory Ombudsman's recommendation for the NT government to urgently consider installing air-conditioning to ease the impacts of stifling and aggravating heat, "which are only worsening with the increasing impacts of climate change, and which disproportionately harm marginalised people".
"The movements of people in prison are highly restricted, and therefore their health, wellbeing and lives are most impacted by global heating and extreme weather conditions. This is at odds with their rehabilitation and ability to lead healthy and positive lives," she said.
Last year, the WA government agreed to air-condition cells at Roebourne Regional Prison, which faced extreme temperatures up to 50 degrees, following advocacy efforts from human rights advocates and lawyers.
The discussion paper "Prisons, climate, and a just transition" highlights the importance of prisons offering adequate facilities to protect people from climate change impacts.
However, the primary focus should be on reducing Australia's reliance on prisons and addressing the root causes of offending, to tackle both social and ecological harms associated with the criminal justice system.
"The urgent need for a just transition away from the reliance on prisons has never been clearer. Our justice systems must focus on reducing prison populations, and investing in community-based alternatives that keep people out of prison in the first place," said Ms Edwards.
"When prisons do need to be used, we need to adapt to protect people from the worsening effects of global heating – including by providing air-conditioning in temperatures that regularly exceed 40 degrees and implementing consistent temperature standards for prisons nation-wide."
Senior leaders from Jesuit Social Services previously explored effective criminal justice systems across parts of Europe, the US and New Zealand as part of its #JusticeSolutions tours.
"The strong and effective systems we observed highlighted the need to only ever use detention as a last resort, and in the very limited circumstances where detention is necessary, for prison conditions to resemble life in the community as closely as possible," said Ms Edwards.
"We must treat people humanly and adequate temperatures give people in prison the best chance possible to rehabilitate, reorient their behaviour and heal."
"This is the first step in a vital system-wide transition away from harmful and ineffective systems that disproportionately impact the most marginalised members of our community, limiting their ability to lead flourishing lives."
