Tablet computers have kept prisoners in touch with family during COVID-19

Prisoner advocates say the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the long-awaited introduction of tablet computers into prisons, allowing inmates to better communicate with family, learn and rehabilitate.

After in-person visits were halted earlier this year, following the initial coronavirus outbreak in Australia, most prisons introduced video-visits to allow prisoners to video chat with friends, family and legal representatives.

But some facilities have gone a step further.

Last month, the New South Wales Government delivered 800 tablet computers to inmates at the Dillwynia and John Morony correctional centres in north-west Sydney, as part of a trial that is set to be expanded in coming months.

The privately operated Clarence Correctional Centre, which has become Australia's largest prison after opening in Grafton earlier this year, has also provided inmates with tablets.

The technology is secure and instead of being connected to the internet, the tablets are only able to connect to approved information, including things like online learning, news and rehabilitation services.

Ordinarily, phone calls were restricted to a few minutes and only allowed at approved times, by appointment, in a communal area.

But inmates with tablets can use them to call approved friends and family from the privacy of their cell.

Helen Eason, a Gomeroi and Biripi woman living in Sydney, said the technology has allowed her to continue having a meaningful relationship with her 21-year-old son, who is currently in prison 600 kilometres away in Grafton.

"He can more or less ring from 6:00am to 10:00pm, so it's helped a lot with that detachment he feels while being away from us and not being able to have that physical contact," she said.

As a former inmate herself, Ms Eason said she remembers how rarely she was able to speak to her family when she was in prison.

"Being a mum with five children, I felt cut off," she said.

"We were only entitled to one phone call on a Sunday, now with these tablets they're allowed three phone calls," she said.

"To be a mum who was in prison and restricted from that contact, this is a breakthrough."

She said the use of tablet computers and video calls had helped her son cope.

"I can see it in his face every time I talk to him because I can see my son smiling," she said.

"For him to be able to see me or his sisters or even his brothers or even his dad, he's still connected, so, it is massive."

COVID-19 has changed prisons

The ACT allows the use of computers in cells, but inmates cannot use them to make phone calls.

Brett Collins, the coordinator for prisoner advocacy organisation Justice Action, said the pandemic had forced authorities to change their thinking on communications and remote learning.

"This is a total breakthrough where people have their own tablet, connected to a server where everything is monitored, where there's full accountability, it's secure, it's safe," he said.

"It's extremely important to open the light inside the dark cells and to have something positive come in, instead of all the negativity and destruction."

Mr Collins said inmates with tablets had better access to rehabilitation services like behavioural courses and mental health support.

"It's a chance for people to deal with offending behaviour, a chance to learn how not to be involved in domestic violence, or to learn skills or dealing with drug and alcohol. All those things come available," he said.

Authorities confident of the benefits

NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin said the trial at Dillwynia and John Morony correctional centres had already been regarded as a success.

"So far the feedback from both staff and inmates have been overwhelmingly positive about this technology," he said.

Mr Severin said the main aim of the trial was to improve inmate engagement with education and intervention programs.

"When you think about it, a maximum-security prisoner in New South Wales can spend up to 16 hours a day in their cell," he said.

"Not doing anything in a meaningful way means that we are wasting 16 hours of a person's day.

"If you're required to participate in a program, I think that's of benefit to the community because we're doing more to produce outcomes that will hopefully produce outcomes in the future, and it comes at a very low cost."

The trial will be monitored over the next couple of months before NSW Corrective Services prepares to roll out the tablets to other facilities across the state.

In-person visits in New South Wales prisons will recommence on Monday, November 23.