Decades of abuse: The hidden crisis of women’s prisons in Australia

Revealing the reality of sexual violence in Australian women’s prisons has never been easy. For decades, women have whispered the truth through institutional cracks deliberately built to silence them.

This violence is neither rare, accidental, nor new—it is structural and cultural, enabled by layers of collusion, disbelief, and near-total impunity that allow guards to abuse their power with almost complete protection.

The advocacy group Sisters Inside has long demanded transparency across Australia’s prison systems. Debbie Kilroy, its director, has warned for years that if society ever truly understood what happens inside these prisons, there would be public outrage.

Now, public anger in Australia is rising—but only because the abuse has become too large, too organized, and too horrifying to ignore.

The case of Wayne Astill was not the first, but it was the one that forced the country to confront the issue.

The arrest and prosecution of Wayne Astill, a former New South Wales prison officer, marked a turning point—not because he was the first officer to sexually assault women in custody, but because the scale of his crimes made public denial impossible.

A jury convicted Astill of 27 criminal offenses, including:

• 5 counts of aggravated sexual assault
• 14 counts of aggravated indecent assault
• 3 counts of aggravated acts of indecency
• 5 counts of misconduct in public office

In total, Astill was convicted of 35 crimes against 14 women in Dillwynia prison. In sentencing him to 23 years in prison, the Supreme Court of Australia described his actions as a “gross breach of trust,” emphasizing that women have the right to expect they will be cared for legally and appropriately while in custody.

However, as a special inquiry later revealed, many women had tried to report Astill’s abuses. They were not believed, silenced, and dismissed as unreliable simply because of their status as prisoners. Those who attempted to raise concerns were pushed aside, and management suppressed reports instead of investigating them.

Systemic violence against women in Australian prisons

Violence against women in Australian prisons is a complex and deeply rooted issue within the country’s criminal justice system. It is intertwined with cycles of past trauma, racial discrimination, and inadequate prison policies.

Reports consistently show that many incarcerated women in Australia are themselves primary victims of domestic and family violence, who ended up in prison not due to proper support systems but because social and judicial protections failed them.

A study by the University of Western Australia, based on interviews with 80 women in eight prisons, found that most had experienced various forms of abuse—including domestic violence—prior to committing offenses, leading to ongoing cycles of trauma.

The imprisonment rate of women in Australia—particularly in Western Australia—has risen rapidly, increasing by 25% between 2022 and 2024, and growing faster than that of men.

Inside prisons, violence not only continues but often escalates. According to a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in Queensland prisons:

• 20% of women experience physical assault
• 3.8% experience sexual assault

These abuses may be carried out by fellow inmates, prison staff, or embedded within the system itself, including forced strip searches and solitary confinement, which for women with trauma histories can be equivalent to psychological torture.

In immigration detention centers—often operating like permanent prisons—women are likewise subjected to structural and interpersonal violence by other detainees and staff.