Prisoners in Tasmania slept on mouldy mattresses, were not routinely issued enough sets of clothes to keep clean, slept in cells that were so damp that paint peeled off the walls and in one prison were until recently issued with second-hand underwear, according to a new report.

The report of the inaugural inspection of Tasmania’s five adult prisons by the inspector of custodial services, Richard Connock, also found that staffing for health services was insufficient, mental health services did not meet the needs of the prisoner population and female prisoners did not have access to a drug and alcohol treatment unit.

It found that drinking water in some prisons contained levels of metals above Australian drinking water quality guidelines.

At Risdon prison complex, the report said, rabbit numbers have reached “plague proportions” with at least one person injured when a burrow collapsed underfoot.

The report, tabled in Tasmanian parliament this week, made 155 recommendations including a recommendation that health services are provided with adequate staff and resources to deal with the increase in prison populations.

It also said that sandwiches should be served the day they are made, not up to 24 hours later, and that recipes used for sauces and “wet dishes” be made “more palatable” after prisoners told inspectors that the gravy on roast meals was “monstrous”, with some saying they washed it off the meat before eating.

The Tasmanian prison population has increased dramatically in recent years and is already hovering around the forecast 2020 levels of 600 prisoners. Australia’s national prison population hit a 20-year high in 2017.

The report said that increase was putting pressure on both health services and staffing levels, and affecting prisoner’s access to recreational activities.

It said that, while some correctional officers were very good, others “appear to have either empathy fatigue or a rack-em and stack-em mentality and cannot see good in any prisoner”.

“Some correctional officers do not seem to view prisoners as individual human beings deserving of basic rights,” it said.

In one case, a woman who gave birth while in prison was initially denied permission for her partner to attend the birth because she required a cesarean. She had been told he would be able to attend if it was a vaginal birth, so “requested a vaginal delivery despite medical concerns that this would be unsafe”.

Her partner was later granted permission to attend a cesarean birth but a uniformed correctional officer stood in the operating theatre, against standing orders that say officers should wear civilian clothes and stay outside the room for a birth.

Connock raised concerns about hygiene in cells, saying it was “degrading and an unhygienic infectious risk” to make inmates eat meals in cells close to an unscreened shared toilet.

He also criticised the recently abandoned practice of issuing prisoners at Launceston reception prison with laundered but second-hand underwear, saying it was “not considered acceptable”.

Prisoners in Tasmania are currently issued with one pair of running shoes, two pairs of track pants, two T-shirts, two pairs each of underwear and socks, and one jumper, with additional work clothes provided at Ron Barwick.

Men are not issued with pyjamas and women are not issued with bras. Additional underwear, singlets, thermals and shorts can be bought from the prison canteen.

The clothes are often second-hand and while some prisoners had procedures in place to ensure damaged clothes were not re-distributed, the increase in prison population meant some prisoners were being issued clothes which, the report said, would be rejected from a charity shop.

“It’s humiliating when your family visit and you have holes in your clothes,” one prisoner told inspectors.

Connock recommended that prisoners receive at least three sets of clothes and four of underwear.

In a statement, the department told the ABC that it would increase the underwear allocation and install toilet seats and lids on cell toilets where appropriate.