Berrimah Prison

Berrimah Prison

Location	Darwin, Northern Territory
Coordinates	12°26′45″S 130°56′26″E / 12.445775°S 130.940616°E / -12.445775; 130.940616Coordinates: 12°26′45″S 130°56′26″E / 12.445775°S 130.940616°E / -12.445775; 130.940616
Status	Operational
Security class	Maximum
Capacity	750
Opened	1 September 1979
Managed by	Northern Territory Correctional Services

The Berrimah Prison, an Australian maximum security prison for males, is located in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The centre is managed by Northern Territory Correctional Services, an agency of the Department of Justice of the Government of the Northern Territory. The centre detains sentenced and charged felons under Northern Territory and/or Commonwealth law.

Following significant overcrowding, the centre is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2014 following the construction and commissioning of new prison, currently under construction. The centre was closed as an adult facility on Friday 28 November 2014.

Facilities

The centre opened on 1 September 1979 and replaced the Fannie Bay Gaol.^[1] Initially built to hold 110 prisoners, Berrimah Prison now houses approximately 750 inmates. The prison is scheduled for decommissioning in 2014 when a new prison will replace it.^[2][3]

Visiting

In October 2010 it was reported that the prison changed visiting hours from seven days per week to weekends only, with the move likely being a cost-cutting measure, and at odds with the 2004 government-commissioned review recommending increased visits for prisoners.^[4]

Conditions

In 2012, ABC News reported Berrimah Prison was crowded to the point of overflowing.^[5] Conditions at the prison in 2011 were reported to be 'Dickensian', with spoiled food, rats and mosquitoes, with the worst conditions endured by prisoners on remand.^[2] The Australian quoted Northern Territory Supreme Court Justice Dean Mildren as saying the conditions do not comply with Australia's international obligations; The Australian also cited the strongest criticisms of the prison's conditions as coming from the Territory's executive director of Correctional Services, Ken Middlebrook, while Correctional Services Minister Gerry McCarthy challenged the report that prisoners were served rotten food.^[2] Western Australia's former head of custodial services, Richard Harding, described Berrimah's conditions as "appalling".^[3]

In 2009, the NT News reported there was a gang riot at the prison caused by heightened tension from overcrowding and staff shortages, with several jail blocks locked down. It was also reported that the Government stated that Berrimah was no longer suitable as a modern prison.^[6]

In 2008 it was reported that a chronic lack of social services in the Northern Territories was the reason for mentally-disabled persons being held for months in isolation at Berrimah Prison; the report also quoted the NT Government as indicating it is planning to build a forensic mental health unit as part of its planned new prison, but that it would not be designed as a substitute for social health services facilities.^[7]

Decommissioning plans

In 2010 the Northern Territory Government announced plans for a new correctional precinct to be built at Holtze to replace the Berrimah Prison. The project location is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Howard Springs Road and is planned to include a new men's and women's correctional centre and the Territory's first secure mental health and behavioural management facility. Construction of the precinct commenced in late 2011; and once the facility is operational, expected in the second half of 2014, the old Berrimah prison will be decommissioned.^[8][9]

Notable prisoners

• Lindy Chamberlain^[10][11] – convicted and later acquitted of murdering her 9-week old daughter Azaria; Chamberlain gave birth to another child of her husband Michael Chamberlain while in custody; she was held at Mulawa Women's Prison, then transferred to Berrimah Prison; incarcerated from 29 October 1982 to 7 February 1986.
• Bradley John Murdoch^[12] – serving life imprisonment for the 2001 murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio; currently an inmate at Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
• Jim Dowling, Adele Goldie, Bryan Law, and Donna Mulhearn^[13][14] – known as the Pine Gap 4.

References

External links

• Photos of Berrimah Prison, Flickr, K. Hodge, 2008-11-5. Accessed 2012-2-26.
• Warchot, A. and Whelan, P. (2009), Biting insect assessment Berrimah Farm and Prison, Medical Entomology, Northern Territory Department of Health and Families. (Primarily sand flies and mosquitoes.)
• Prison Officer Recruiting, NT. Accessed 2012-2-26.