Australian Human Rights Commission Current issues and good practices in prison management, 16 November 2023 a last resort. Legislation authorising isolation (to the extent jurisdictions do not already) should at a minimum provide the following protections: • meaningful human contact and a minimum number of out of cell hours per week • access to the community equivalence standard of health care including mental health services during the period of isolation • adequate record keeping and data be kept of all prisoners in restrictive practices including isolation and should be made available to the Inspector of Custodial Services.156 97. In responding to the recommendation, the Western Australian Government stated that they supported it in principle, with suggestions for improved accuracy and implementation.157 The New South Wales Government noted it had been given ‘insufficient time to undertake the detailed consideration and scoping required for the State to reach a final determination on this recommendation’.158 So far as the Commission is aware, no other State or Territory provided a response to the recommendation. 98. The Commission has in past called for ‘concerted efforts’159 to ensure the implementation of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommendation that ‘persons with disabilities cannot be held in solitary confinement’ across Australia.160 We endorse the recommendation made by Counsel Assisting that this prohibition should be extended to all people though note the Disability Royal Commission’s final position was to only extend this recommendation to youth detention.161 99. The Yoorook Justice Report (Victoria) has also recommended that ‘the Mandela Rules prohibition on prolonged solitary confinement for adults, and a complete prohibition for children, should be established in legislation’. 162 5 Independent oversight of prisons and youth detention 100. The Commission remains greatly concerned about Australia’s continued noncompliance with its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). To date, the states of New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria are yet to designate a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). 101. In December 2022, the Cultural Review of the Adult Custodial Corrections System (Victoria) recommended that the Victorian Government take priority 21