The union representing prison officers has painted a dire picture of the state of Queensland’s prison system with prison officers over-worked as the state’s inmate population has soared.

There were reports some officers are sleeping in their cars between shifts and doing double shifts.

Together Union’s industrial services director Michael Thomas said it was unsafe and assaults were on the rise.

“It’s fair to say we are just not keeping up, we have had a double whammy now, during the COVID-19 period, there was a reduction in the number of people being incarcerated now that’s picking up as well.

“We are certainly seeing some of the remand centres, like the Brisbane Correctional Centre, a really big spike in the number of prisoners that are in jail at the moment.

“Even though we have seen things like the doubling of Capricornia [Correctional Centre], the announcement about southern Queensland, we are still simply locking up more people than we have capacity to house them.”

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