Prisoners locked down in southeast Queensland’s crowded Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre for five days due to a COVID-19 have rioted amid staff shortages.

September 1, 2020

Queensland prison inmates have rioted after being locked down for five days due to a COVID-19 outbreak among correctional workers.

Prisoners at Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, southwest of Brisbane, flooded cells, lit fires and smashed CCTV cameras during a series of “Code Black” incidents.

The unrest started on Monday and continued into Tuesday after about 80 per cent of prison staff were stood down for coronavirus testing, Queensland Corrective Services says.

Commissioner Peter Martin said the staff upheaval had a dramatic effect on the prison and led to “an incredibly challenging day” during the riot.

“(The prisoners) feel very disaffected at the fact they’ve been locked away for a significant period of time,” he told reporters.

Health workers carrying out COVID-19 testing and administering medication to prisoners walked off the job during the unrest amid fears for their safety.

Mr Martin said they had since returned to work and Arthur Gorrie was currently calm.

However, he fears more rioting is possible.

“The problem for us is that this has got a very long trajectory,” he said.

“We’re in a 14-day isolation period and currently we’re on about day four.”

Arthur Gorrie’s 1060 prisoners went into lockdown last Thursday after two corrective services officers were found to be infected.

No further officers or inmates have tested positive.

It followed an outbreak at a nearby youth detention centre which spread to the correctional training academy, also in Wacol.

The riots at Arthur Gorrie started on Monday morning with a fire. It was put out by prison officers.

A second fire was lit in the afternoon, which was also put out, and a third blaze was set late on Monday night, which officers also dealt with.

Mr Martin said another two fires were lit on Tuesday morning.

Two officers and 36 prisoners have been treated for smoke inhalation.

“In some cases, prisoners flooded their cells … There was the damage to some glass and CCTV,” Mr Martin said.

Mr Martin described Arthur Gorrie’s prisoner population as particularly challenging.

“They’re remand type prisoners, so they are new into the system and they’re not stable and in some cases they have alcohol and drug dependencies,” he said.

“They are a complex prisoner population.”

Mr Martin said about 18 inmates caused the majority of the unrest and most had remained compliant.

Another 6000 inmates in jails from the central coast to southeast Queensland also remain confined to their cells.