Murderers, rapists and child molesters are among the prisoners asked to complete an online survey to rate the quality of their prison ‘experience’.
The survey is being sent to NSW prisoners held in maximum, medium and minimum security custody and can be completed on touchscreen tablets in their cells.
‘We want to hear from you!’ is stated in the survey invitation.
‘We would like to hear about your experiences at the Correctional Center where you have been placed and the staff you interact with.
“Access the survey by clicking the ‘Experience Survey’ link in the list of approved websites on your tablet.”
The survey is promoted as confidential, voluntary and ‘an opportunity to have your say’.
Murderers, rapists and child molesters are among the prisoners asked to complete an online survey to rate their ‘experience’ in prison. A prisoner is pictured at Mid North Coast Correctional Center near Kempsey
Users of a Facebook page popular with inmates and former prison officers have ridiculed the questionnaire, with one saying: “The do-gooders are at it again.”
“Surely this is a joke?” another wrote on The Last Governor’s account.
“Do they really expect an inmate to say they are having a good time and that every interaction with the staff is great and everyone is happy to be there?”
Further comments included: “I’ll definitely get honest answers,” “The new TripAdvisor,” and “Maybe we should be like Uber drivers.” Give us one to five stars for our performance’.
Retired prison officer John Heffernan, who runs the Facebook page The Last Governor, summed up his former colleagues’ skepticism about the investigation in his post.
“I suspect the response will be completely negative and will give some inmates the opportunity to make unsubstantiated accusations against staff members,” he wrote.
“Maybe I’m missing the point, but it just sounds like another exercise in waking up to me.
“They’re not running Woolworths, they’re after customer satisfaction, they’re running a prison system.”
The survey is being sent to prisoners in NSW maximum, medium and minimum security prison centers and can be completed on touchscreen tablets (above) in their cells
Prisoners across NSW have access to a tablet that can be used to call loved ones while locked in their cells.
The mid-sized Android devices provide access to approved websites, health and wellness services, educational programs, entertainment resources and games.
The tablets also provide information about prison management, paperless purchasing of groceries and personal information of prisoners, such as upcoming court hearings.
Daily Mail Australia understands the survey asks specific questions and does not provide an opportunity for prisoners to make general comments about their time behind bars.
A spokeswoman for Corrective Services NSW said the department “routinely uses surveys to inform changes within our prisons” and this survey followed a similar survey offered six months ago.
‘We want to hear from you!’ is stated in the survey invitation. “We would like to hear about your experiences at the Correctional Center where you have been placed and the staff you interact with.”
“Corrective Services NSW is committed to improving the experiences of people in custody to reduce the number of unnatural deaths and increase the likelihood of prisoners moving away from criminal behaviour,” she said.
‘This survey is designed to gauge inmates’ perceptions on a variety of topics, including their safety and CSNSW’s administrative decision-making processes.’
The spokeswoman said the survey used “closed-ended psychometric questions” and was available to all prisoners on their mobile tablets or computer kiosks.
“Research shows that meeting key performance measures in custody reduces the likelihood of people reoffending,” she said.
“Our targeted questions will also help us better allocate resources to provide greater staff support and improve the safety of our correctional centers and ultimately the safety of the community.”