NCJ Number
114639
Date Published
1988
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This chapter presents the Australian Law Reform Commission's assessment and recommendations concerning prison conditions for Australian Federal and Australian Capital Territory prisoners and two major civil disabilities attached to imprisonment and conviction: loss of voting rights and loss of access to civil courts.
Abstract
Since the Australian Law Reform Commission concluded in Report No. 15 that prison conditions for Federal prisoners do not meet minimum standards based on the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules, conditions in prisons have significantly improved, but most prisons still fail to meet at least some of the minimum standards. Some commission recommendations for improved Federal inmate conditions are the extension to inmates of the same medicare coverage enjoyed by other citizens; the elimination of punitive dietary restrictions, corporal punishment, and solitary confinement; and the inclusion of criminal law materials in prison libraries. The commission recommends the Commonwealth's appointment of a Federal prison coordinator to monitor the conditions under which Federal inmates are held as well as the construction of an Australian Capital Territory prison. The commission favors inmates' retention of voting rights and the right to bring civil suits. 32 footnotes.