Prisoner detained for 'several months' after release date, ombudsman finds

Posted Thu 30 Jul 2026 at 7:59amThu 30 Jul 2026 at 7:59amThe Department for Correctional Services held a prisoner in custody for "several months" beyond his release date. (ABC News: Che Chorley)In short:An Ombudsman SA investigation has found a prisoner was held in custody for "several months" beyond his sentence release date.The Department for Correctional Services says it disagrees that it should compensate the inmate.What's next?The department says it has implemented new processes to manage prisoner release dates.An inmate was erroneously kept in a South Australian prison for "several months" after his sentence ended, and the Department for Correctional Services says it "respectfully disagrees" it should pay compensation to him.The "failure" was investigated by Ombudsman SA, which found the male prisoner was detained beyond their sentence release date due to "insufficient" processes — something the department said it has since made changes to.In a statement on the investigation, the ombudsman reported that the department took "immediate action" to release the inmate once it identified the error.But the ombudsman found the department took five years to advise the prisoner what had happened "and only did so following engagement from the ombudsman's office"."It did not appear the department had any intention of advising the prisoner of its error until the ombudsman requested it do so," the ombudsman report said."The ombudsman considered the delay in advising the prisoner to be serious and unacceptable."The investigation found the department's letter to the inmate "did not offer an apology or inform the prisoner of their legal rights against the state"."The seriousness of the department's error was exacerbated by the fact that the department knew it had held the prisoner in error and failed to provide timely advice of this fact, offer an apology or make him aware of the compensation options available to him," the ombudsman report said."The ombudsman commented that this had the potential to impact the prisoner's ability to seek redress for the department's action."Recommendations to the departmentThe investigation found the department was "in breach" of the Correctional Services Act and acted "inconsistently" with international and national human rights standards for not releasing the prisoner on time.It also determined by failing to immediately notify the prisoner of the error, the department also "acted inconsistently" with human rights standards and "the reasonable expectations of the community in regard to the state's treatment of prisoners"."South Australian government agencies are required to take accountability for errors when they have an impact on people," the ombudsman report said.The Department for Correctional Services says it "respectfully disagrees" it should pay compensation to the prisoner. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)The ombudsman made three recommendations, including reviewing the practices and systems across correctional facilities and asking the department to consider an "ex gratia payment" to the prisoner.In a statement, the Department for Correctional Services said it acknowledged the ombudsman's statement."Since this incident occurred six years ago, the department and G4S have implemented new processes to manage prisoner release dates," a spokeswoman said."The government respectfully disagrees with the ombudsman's request to pay compensation."