Together Queensland, which represents corrections officers, said "triple bunking" would have to be considered given the anticipated influx of prisoners under the proposed Breach Bail Go To Jail legislation. The laws would mandate a minimum 12-month sentence for adults and children who commit serious crimes while on bail, are unlawfully at large, or fail to attend court.
A survey of custodial corrections officers by the union found 93 per cent said their centres could not safely take more prisoners without extra staff and resources. Michael Thomas, Together Queensland assistant branch secretary, warned of inevitable increases in assaults, injuries and "potentially even deaths", noting recent riots in two Queensland prisons.
The adult prison system is already operating at 136 per cent cell capacity, according to the Queensland Corrective Services 2025-26 annual report. Over the past decade, the prisoner population has risen 54 per cent, from 7,319 to 11,275, and thousands of single-occupancy cells have been retrofitted with a second permanent bunk bed. Only 1,400 additional beds are in the pipeline from next year.
Even before the new laws, corrective services had forecast an increase of 1,500 to 5,200 prisoners by June 2035. The government has not released modelling of the impact of the breach bail laws, but has stated that 5,248 adults would have been automatically jailed last year under the proposed regime. Separately, 859 children would likely have been jailed, twice the capacity of the current youth justice system.
Stacey Schinnerl, Queensland secretary of the Australian Workers Union, said tents would have to be erected in the grounds of youth detention centres to accommodate the influx. She warned the laws would create an immediate staffing crisis, as there is a mandated minimum number of staff per prisoner.
The 7-week parliamentary committee inquiry into the legislation is due to report tomorrow.