BRUMBY COMMITS TO PROBE ON JAIL DRUGS

PREMIER John Brumby has promised an investigation of claims of
increased drug use at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre amid concern about
the amount of contraband smuggled into Victoria's largest women's jail.

Mr Brumby said yesterday's report in The Age of a recent rise in drug
overdoses among inmates and a sex scandal involving prison officials
was "a matter of major concern" to Corrections Minister Bob Cameron
who, the Premier said, had requested a "full and detailed report" into
the incidents.

"Our record by and large in this area has been pretty good. But these
are very serious claims ... and they will be fully investigated and I
can assure you that if any further steps are necessary to prevent
drugs getting into prisons we will take those steps," Mr Brumby said.

The State Opposition described conditions at the prison as approaching
Third-World levels and accused the Government of failing to act on
repeated warnings about overcrowding and poor security procedures.

"Mr Cameron should be ashamed of the conditions," Opposition
corrections spokesman Andrew McIntosh said.

The Government took control of the prison from a private operator in
2000 due to concern about the prevalence of drugs among inmates.

Prison advocates and former inmates contacted The Age yesterday to
claim the drug situation at the jail was the worst it had been in
years. A 25 per cent increase in inmates over the past 12 months was
also contributing to a spate of drug overdoses and suicide attempts,
they said.

"You've only just scratched the surface of the problems at the prison.
There is corruption and the conditions are getting worse and worse," a
recently released prisoner told The Age.

The overcrowding situation at the Deer Park jail has forced
Corrections Victoria to place a small number of female prisoners in
cells in suburban police stations over the past 10 weeks.

Mr Brumby said it was incorrect to say the Government had done nothing
to act on drugs and management problems at the prison.

"I think those matters were bought to the attention of prison
authorities and they put steps in place to prevent drug use and drugs
being smuggled into prisons, but it would appear ... there may still
be some drugs that are getting into the prison," he said.

The prison's former acting operations manager and a female officer
were recently investigated after they altered rosters to enable them
to have sex around the prison.