Casuarina Prison is the main maximum-security prison for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

, located in the

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, Western Australia suburb of

Casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fam ...

. The prison accommodates minimum-, medium- and maximum-security prisoners. It was opened in 1991 to replace

Fremantle Prison Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages ...

, which was 130 years old. The prison was the scene of a riot on Christmas Day 1998. The prison featured in the documentary ''Australia's Hardest Prison: Lockdown Oz'' on the National Geographic channel in 2008, following the lives of prisoners and officers. In 2013 the prison was the setting for the film ''

Son of a Gun Son of a gun is an exclamation in American and British English. It can be used encouragingly or to compliment, as in "You son of a gun, you did it!" Definition The ''Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary'' and ''Webster's Dictionary'' both defin ...

''. The prison has been subject of multiple legal actions due to alleged "inhumane conditions". In 2022, seventeen teenagers were relocated to the maximum security prison prompting a class action. The Department of Justice has defended its actions, while victim advocates have raised concerns around the law firm representing the youth. The

Australian Human Rights Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but oper ...

has raised concerns about the issue of teenagers being held at the prison, prompting calls for further action.

Notable prisoners

* Jack Roche *

Dante Arthurs Dante Wyndham Arthurs (born 8 August 1984) is an Australian murderer, convicted of the murder of eight-year-old Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia Shu. On 17 November 2007 Arthurs pleaded guilty to the charges of murder and unlawful detention and was co ...

* David Birnie (1951–2005) * Robert Bropho (1930–2011) * Terence Kelly, alleged kidnapper of Cleo Smith * Bradley Edwards Claremont Serial Killer

References

External links

Casuarina Prison – Department of Corrective Services

Report of an Unannounced Inspection of the IOU and the SHU at Casuarina Prison (2000)
(pdf)
Report of a Follow-up Inspection of the Special Management Units at Casuarina Prison (2001)
(pdf) {{Authority control 1991 establishments in Australia Prisons in Western Australia Maximum security prisons in Australia