Australian Human Rights Commission Current issues and good practices in prison management, 16 November 2023 unsentenced prisoners also rose by 4% for the quarter to 16,158 (39% of the total prison population).6 8. The Western Australian Inspector of Custodial Services has reported that the daily average unsentenced population in Western Australia has progressively increased from 18% of the daily average detention population in 2011 to nearly 31% in 2022, despite a decrease in the total detention population over the past decade.7 Consequently, many unsentenced prisoners are placed in prisons intended for sentenced prisoners. For example, Casuarina Prison has seen a 358% increase in the number of unsentenced prisoners placed there, Broome Regional Prison (256%), Greenough Regional Prison (189%), Albany Regional Prison (99%) and Bunbury Regional Prison (99%).8 9. The New South Wales Inspector of Custodial Services has likewise characterised the upward trend in unsentenced prisoners in New South Wales as ‘remain[ing] stubbornly high in both adult and youth justice facilities’.9 10. The Tasmanian Inspector of Custodial Services has reported a 21% increase in the number of people imprisoned between June 2022 and June 2023.10 The Inspector has observed that the increasing numbers are, in part, contributed to by the increasing number of prisoners who are eligible for parole but not released due to not having suitable accommodation.11 2.2 Limited opportunities for rehabilitation and preparation for release 11. The Cultural Review of the Adult Custodial Corrections System (Victoria) has noted that: Creating a custodial environment that provides opportunities for people to build pathways and skills that will interrupt the cycle of offending is squarely in the community interest and in line with a long-term preventive response to crime. This can only be achieved in a safe environment that treats people with dignity, respect and prioritises rehabilitation and return to community life.12 12. Despite a shift towards rehabilitative models in recent decades, the Commission remains greatly concerned about the lack of appropriate services and programs in Australian prisons tailored to the diverse needs of the prison population. Our Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Report consultations, for example, found ‘many women and girls in incarceration reported a lack of available services, restricted access to existing services and a substandard level of care provided by services within prisons and detention centres’.13 4