"Cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of inmates in WA's Hakea Prison has been exposed by a new report, sparking the establishment of a taskforce to tackle problems at the facility.

On Thursday Western Australia's Inspector of Custodial Services, Eamon Ryan, released the report for the 2024 inspection of Hakea, and noted little had changed since the report inspection was conducted.

Mr Ryan noted this was his office's eighth announced inspection of Hakea – the state's primary remand facility for adult males, in which Indigenous men are drastically over-represented.

The Inspector said conditions observed during the May 2024 inspection were of such concern that he formed a view that prisoners at Hakea were being treated in a manner that was cruel, inhuman, or degrading.

The concerns included:

- Excessive lockdowns in the months preceding and during the inspection. Records indicated that prisoners were regularly receiving less than two hours out of cell on any given day, and on some occasions, they received no time out of cell in a 24-hour period;

- Time out of cell was often confined to the wing or unit. Access to outside areas and fresh air was rare;

- Access to any form of meaningful activity such as employment, education, programs, and recreation was extremely rare. Employment was generally limited to essential services such as the kitchen and laundry;

- An inability for prisoners to maintain contact with their family through telephone calls or arranged social visits due to increased lockdowns and staffing shortages;

- Insufficient supply of clean clothing and bedding, with men claiming they were required to wear the same clothing for several days; and

- Meals being eaten in cell, due to excessive lockdowns, leading to pest infestations and unhygienic living conditions.

Mr Ryan found these conditions were observed to be contributing to "an increased level of anger and frustration" in prisoners, which was leading to challenging or dangerous behaviours, such as suicides, suicide attempts, serious self-harm, and assaults.

His office noted that Hakea recorded more attempted suicides between January and March 2024, than throughout the entire year of 2023.

Last week, the inquest into the death of 22-year-old Noongar man Ricky-Lee Cound at Hakea in 2022 brought down its findings, revealing a series of failures by the system.

After the 2024 inspection, the inspector issued a Show Cause Notice to the Director General of WA's Department of Justice on 27 May last year, under section 33A of the Inspector of Custodial Services Act 2003.

The Notice was then referred to the Minister for Corrective Services. Both the Department and the Minister "reiterated a commitment" to addressing the issues identified by the Inspector at Hakea, the Inspector noted.

However, Mr Ryan said on Thursday his office's "ongoing monitoring at Hakea suggests that, with a few exceptions, conditions have not improved significantly since our inspection in May 2024", and a follow-up inspection report will be prepared considering findings from an unannounced night visit to Hakea conducted in February 2025 and an announced day visit conducted last month.

"Time out of cell has only marginally improved and threats of self-harm or attempted suicides remain high," Mr Ryan said.

"There continues to be limited, if any, access to programs, education, or outdoor recreation. Employment opportunities are limited to essential services. Approximately half of all scheduled visit sessions with family and friends are cancelled or reduced.

"Since the inspection, the adult male population has continued to increase placing additional strain on Hakea. Over the past year Hakea has regularly exceeded its operational capacity and cells originally designed for one person are now regularly occupied by three, with one person sleeping on a mattress on the floor in proximity to the cell toilet."

Mr Ryan said daily staffing shortages continue to have a significant impact on the prison's regime.

"There appears to be little, if any, improvement in the fractured local relationship between prison management and the WA Prison Officers' Union. The latter point is surprising, and frankly disappointing, as it would be reasonable to expect both sides to have a shared interest in progressing improvements in the conditions for staff and prisoners," he said.

"To date, the pace of improvement at Hakea has been too slow and the conditions for the men held there remain unsatisfactory.

"It is also worth bearing in mind that approximately 80 per cent of the men at Hakea are unsentenced, which means they have not been convicted of the alleged offences for which they are being held".

Noongar human rights law expert and academic, Dr Hannah McGlade, told National Indigenous Times there is a need for immediate action to ensure the safety of people in Haken.

"The inspector's finding are shocking and his office is to be commended for shining a light on the deplorable conditions currently at Hakea. These conditions put people's lives at risk," she said.

In response to the report, WA's Department of Justice announced it has established a taskforce in response to issues identified at Hakea by the Office of the Inspector.

The Department acknowledged the inspector's finding that Hakea was "struggling to meet the needs of a growing adult male prison population", and also his office's reports on prisoners' living conditions and welfare as "key areas of concern arising from the inspection".

Department Director General Kylie Maj said the multidisciplinary Hakea taskforce's objective was to devise and implement strategies to improve conditions at the prison.

"We are committed to addressing OICS' concerns and taking action to enhance the safety and welfare of Hakea prisoners and staff," she said.

"The Department continues to recruit staff, which is critical to improving conditions for prisoners at Hakea and increasing the capacity of the entire adult prison estate."

Corrective Services Commissioner Brad Royce said the growing prisoner population across the adult custodial estate had placed greater demands on the prison system, the workforce and the provision of services and programs.

"This has particularly impacted Hakea, where an increasing number of remanded maximum-security prisoners are held," he said.

The Department said the taskforce was focused on staff recruitment and retention initiatives, short-term infrastructure projects and management of prisoners across the custodial estate, and that a long-term infrastructure plan is being developed to meet current and future population demands.

Dr McGlade welcomed the establishment of a taskforce and said Mr Ryan's findings showed the need "for urgent action to ensure immediate safety measures".