Prison staff would not need to consider prisoners' human rights under bill

In short:

Corrective services staff would not have to respect prisoners' human rights under a Queensland bill.

Queensland Corrective Services Minister Laura Gerber says prison staff should not be required to undertake additional human rights assessments as part of its duties.

What's next?

The bill is being considered by a Queensland parliamentary committee.

Prisoners are in danger of losing their human rights under a bill proposed by the Queensland government.

The government says it is putting the rights of victims ahead of offenders.

But opponents warn the proposal is "profoundly dehumanising" and could lead to the abuse of people behind bars, including those on remand.

The bill would stop section 58 of the Human Rights Act from applying to decisions about all prisoners.

Under the proposed changes, the chief executive of Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) and its staff would not have to make decisions compatibly with human rights or properly consider them.

Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Debbie Platz said that if the bill passed in its current form, prisoners would have no basis to complain to Queensland's Human Rights Commission.

"This includes people who are imprisoned on remand and who have not been convicted of any crime," she said.

Sisters Inside north Queensland program manager Carissa Daisy said the human rights exemption would also apply to those imprisoned due to non-violent offending.

About two-thirds of Queensland's 15 correctional centres are located outside metropolitan Brisbane, with prisons in Woodford, Townsville, Mareeba and North Rockhampton.

Sisters Inside warns the exemption could mean triple bunking, prisoners kept longer in solitary confinement and restricted access to family visits.

"People in Townsville need to understand that this proposal reaches into our own community," Ms Daisy said.

"The government cannot justify stripping protections from an entire prison population by pointing to the people it considers the most frightening."

Ms Daisy said human rights were "not a reward for good behaviour".

"A government cannot claim to oppose violence against women while removing protections that women can use to challenge harm in its own prisons," she said.

"Women do not stop deserving safety, dignity and care when they are criminalised."

Queensland Human Rights Commission's submission to the bill said the changes would also mean QCS would not have to comply with the human rights of people affected by decisions about a prisoner, including family members seeking to contact them.

"Overriding human rights should only occur in 'exceptional circumstances' such as where there is a war, state of emergency, or an exceptional crisis situation," the submission read.

Queensland Corrective Services referred the ABC to the minister's office when contacted for comment.

Corrective Services Minister Laura Gerber defended the exemption in the statement of compatibility tabled with the bill, saying officers should not have to carry out extra human rights assessments before taking otherwise lawful action.

"The disapplication of section 58 does not authorise otherwise unlawful conduct," she wrote.

Ms Gerber said the government would "always put the rights of victims before the rights of offenders".

"That's why we are delivering the strongest parole laws in the nation, which will keep dangerous prisoners behind bars longer and make Queensland safer."

Trudy Reading, the chief advocacy officer of Queensland charity Voice for Victims, said the rights of offenders should not be prioritised.

"I mean it's pretty simple, don't do the crime, don't pay the time," she said.

"I'm not suggesting that we have Third World conditions in our prisons, but I think, realistically, what we're seeing from the majority is that we're putting the rights of the offenders before the rights or the welfare of the community and victims generally."

Carve-out labelled 'profoundly dehumanising'

The Queensland Ombudsman and Inspector of Detention Services also opposed the exemption, warning about the "ever-present risk" of abuse and inhumane treatment for those in custodial environments.

"The conditions within prisons raise significant human rights issues such as use of force, use of solitary confinement, removal of clothing searches, and application of restraints," its submission said.

The Human Rights Law Centre said the bill should not be passed as it would cause "preventable harm" to prisoners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who were over-represented in the custodial system.

"Carving out conduct affecting people in prison and others subject to criminal legal supervision from human rights protections is profoundly dehumanising," its submission read.

Separately, the bill would extend "restricted prisoner" status to all prisoners serving life sentences who could not apply for parole for up to 10 years.