PAROCHIALISM in the prison system — namely the North-South divide — has forced the prison service to create new areas to separate inmates.

The Department of Justice annual report shows the divide is extending into the state’s maximum security prison.

“Prisoner association issues continue to be a challenge with greater numbers of prisoners requiring protection, and the North-South divide of growing concern,” the report said.

“Associations are one of the most difficult aspects of managing a prison service in a small state, where prisoners are more often than not known to each other and are frequently in conflict due to longstanding grievances, drug and gambling debts as well as gang affiliations.

“With the main men’s maximum and medium security prison situated in the South of the state and no equivalent in the North, these issues are compounded by the limited accommodation options available.’’

The report said a new 10-bed unit within Risdon prison complex was expected to provide some flexibility.

Law Society of Tasmania president Matthew Verney said there was some virtue in the Government looking at additional prison facilities in the North and North-West. He said inmates from those areas saw their families less while they were in prison in the South, which made it more difficult to integrate them back into the community.

“There is a good argument for the Government to look at building a prison in the North — the current facilities at Risdon are stretched,” he said. “There is a significant proportion of inmates coming from the North and North-West.”