Official Visitors to NSW prisons recorded 32,168 complaints in the year to June 30, 2026, up from the previous year. The report states that one of the biggest sources of complaint was lock-ins or lockdowns, and that “short staffing and the subsequent impact of inmate lock-ins have been further compounded by the limited availability of functioning tablets and the cost of phone calls.” Medical issues were the most common topic of complaint.
A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said that “an increase in complaints is not necessarily an indicator of worsening conditions” and “can also reflect a larger inmate population, [an] increase in visits from Official Visitors and confidence in the independent processes available to raise concerns and seek assistance.”
University of Technology Sydney law professor Thalia Anthony said she was “completely astonished … because the rate of complaints far exceeds the increase in people in prison.” She said that “there are grounds for people in prison to feel that their conditions are worsening, but I didn't expect this level of escalation of complaints” and that the number of new inmates is outstripping the number of prison staff.
Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson said she believed an additional factor in the “explosion” in complaints was a 2025 law change to lower the standard of proof when disciplining inmates. “We know that inmates were being accused of things they hadn't done and then being really punished,” she said. Higginson said the rise was indicative of the “populist law and order approach” from the Minns government.
The remand population has increased 32 percent in the three years to 2026, following the tightening of bail laws for those accused of serious domestic violence offences. Public Service Association NSW general secretary Stewart Little estimated roughly 7,000 people are currently held on remand out of a total prison population of about 14,200. “It means that there's a lot of pressure whenever you've got a large number of remandees coming into the system,” he said.
In September the government announced it would reopen the Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre at Silverwater and fast-track adding extra beds at Parklea Correctional Centre. Professor Anthony said without hiring more staff the system would remain strained, and argued the government should ask “whether prison is the right place for these people.” She warned that inhumane conditions set inmates up to “return to the community more disgruntled, more disengaged with the system and institutions.”