Risdon Prison riot leaves guards hospitalised, jail in lockdown - ABC News - 18 Jun 2018

Five prison guards have been taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital after being attacked by inmates at Risdon Prison.

Maximum security prisoners are believed to have attacked guards as their cells were unlocked this morning, injuring five so severely they were taken to hospital.

Tom Lynch from the Public Sector Union, which represents prison officers, said at least one of the guards sustained a significant head injury.

The incident is been believed to have been sparked by the re-introduction of a prisoner to maximum security.

It is understood the officers' injuries were inflicted by prisoners punching and kicking rather than using weapons.

Mr Lynch said the attack came without warning.

"It was an ugly, premeditated attack on correctional officers going about their duty and I hope there are serious consequences for the inmates involved," he said.

Prison Legal Service chairman Greg Barns said the prison is a tinderbox and it will only get worse with continued overcrowding.

"What you're going to see is an increase in tensions, an increase in the risk to staff and an increase in risk to prisoners and an increase in what we would call isolation — that's prisoners being kept in their cells for more than 21 hours a day," he said.

"If you treat people badly and don't focus on rehabilitation, if you continue to put more people in prison than you should then you get a less safe society — it's simple."

A Government spokesperson said no section of the prison complex was currently at capacity.

The Department of Justice said currently medium security was at 93 per cent capacity, maximum security was at 92 per cent, the Ron Barwick minimum security section was at 95 per cent, and the Mary Hutchinson Women's Prison was at 80 per cent capacity.

"81 more beds are beginning to come online," the spokesperson said.

"This is in addition to our long-term plan for prison infrastructure that includes $70 million for the southern remand centre and $9.3 million for the shared services facility on the Risdon site."

"They need to be prepared for violence"

Mr Lynch would not comment on whether the latest incident was a reflection of how volatile the prison was but said it indicated how dangerous the guard's work was.

"When these guys go to work every day they need to be prepared for that sort of violence and that's a really difficult thing for any worker to do — I don't have to do that, you don't have to do that and most Tasmanians don't have to do that," Mr Lynch said,

"We need to remember that this is potentially a really dangerous workplace that correctional officers work in."

Mr Lynch said he would review the incident with prison management.

"It's a very worrying incident," he said.

"At this stage I'm not going to comment on procedures and protocols that protect our members — I will always ask for the highest standard of safety for our members but we do acknowledge that it is a really difficult working environment.

"We will work through the issues that come out of today's incident with prison management, if there are things that we can learn that reduce the risk for correctional officers then we would seek to have them implemented.

The prison's tactical response group attended and police and crime scene examiners are also at the jail.

The prison is in rolling lockdowns as the Department of Corrections and Justice makes sure there is enough staff to handle the incident.