Western Australia's prison system has "prolonged shortages" of non-custodial staff in the areas of health, mental health, rehabilitation, and reintegration which have caused delays in health assessments, case management, and rehabilitation planning - a new report by the Inspector of Custodial Services has found.

Published Tuesday, the report found delays caused by shortages meant the state's Department of Justice "risks continued service shortfalls that compromise the wellbeing, rehabilitation, and reintegration outcomes for people in custody".

The report revealed one in five Department of Justice positions in Health and Wellbeing roles were vacant while more than one in four Rehabilitation and Reintegration positions were unstaffed.

Inspector Eamon Ryan said the shortage of non-custodial staffing is facing all prisons across the state.

The report noted that an effective prison system "must provide people in custody the opportunity to address their immediate health and welfare needs in addition to supporting behavioural and attitudinal change through tailored programs and services".

"Non-custodial staffing models in prisons were not clear, consistent, or contemporary in determining the number of professionals needed across these portfolios," Mr Ryan.

"Furthermore, the efforts of the Department to recruit and retain these staff remained challenging, exacerbated by national clinical shortages."

The Inspector said the Department of Justice had an "undesirable workplace culture" and unsafe conditions.

"Currently, the Department is not an employer of choice. We found staff attrition was linked to increased workloads, unsafe working conditions, limited opportunities for career progression or innovation, a lack of clinical supervision, and an undesirable workplace culture," he said.

"The Department faces a critical and multifaceted challenge to adequately staff non-custodial roles across Western Australian prisons.

"Shortages in non-custodial staffing need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Without comprehensive reform and sustained investment, the Department risks continued service shortfalls that compromise the wellbeing, rehabilitation, and reintegration outcomes for people in custody. This means people will stay in prison for longer and come out no better than when they went in, driving up the size of the prison population, and not making communities any safer."

Kurin Minang human rights expert and law academic, Dr Hannah McGlade, told National Indigenous Times staff shortages "translate to shocking outcomes for Aboriginal people in the state, including incarceration in cruel and inhumane conditions contrary to international law".

"This is a direct contributor to Aboriginal deaths in custody today, with the latest death in Hakea being entirely foreseeable due to the appalling conditions," she said.

"We know of cases of Aboriginal prisoners who have been incarcerated well beyond, years past their release dates, and Aboriginal people now subjected to disastrous indefinite definition laws.

"The state government and the WA police especially must make a genuine commitment to addressing Aboriginal incarceration which is an absolute disgrace. It's well known that too many people are being charged and sent to prison only to be released shortly before the court date. If the case was not warranted; why were they even charged?"

Dr McGlade, a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, said the outcomes demonstrate systemic racism, and that "tokenistic measures that fail to respect Aboriginal self-determination will continue to fail".

"The Aboriginal justice committee must be re-established as a fully independent body. It has failed to deliver any meaningful outcomes," she said.

"The whole box and dice of justice must be addressed, including failure to implement the now 34 year-old recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

"Not only does this represent serious human rights violation, it is a mismanagement of public funds by the state and in the face of health crisis and hospital ramping putting people's lives at risk."

Mr Ryan welcomed the Department convening the Clinical Shortages Workforce Group to address the staff shortfalls.

"Some promising strategies have been introduced; however more robust retention measures and competitive incentives are urgently needed. Serco's tailored approach at Acacia Prison highlights opportunities for the Department to enhance its employment offerings," he said.

In response to the report, the Department of Justice said it has launched "a number of recruitment and retention measures aimed at bolstering the non-custodial workforce".

Department Director General Kylie Maj said prisoner population growth has placed greater demands on the delivery of non-custodial support services and programs in WA's correctional system.

"The Corrective Services Safer Staffing Review has been expanded to include non-custodial staffing profiles to ensure this cohort is resourced appropriately to meet the needs of each prison," she said.

"Additional proactive strategies such as partnerships with universities to place nursing undergraduates into custodial facilities across the State have also commenced."

Corrective Services Commissioner Brad Royce said the WA prison estate's non-custodial staff, like custodial officers, are critical to the objectives of reducing recidivism and creating safer communities.