Racial segregation in Goulburn prison

7 July, 2008

Yarding and racial clustering are terms used to describe how different racial groups are segregated within prisons. It's a controversial practice that is used to reduce violence between different racial groups. In July this year, the US Supreme Court ordered gaols in California and Texas to phase out racial clustering and to begin implementing policies of racial integration. The Court found the practice of yarding to be racist in nature and said that in the long run it failed to reduce violence...

In Australia, to my current knowledge, the only gaol where yarding was introduced, and is still in practice, is Goulburn Gaol in New South Wales... Each yard contains an ethnic group – there is the Aboriginal yard, the Asian yard, the Middle Eastern yard and the Pacific Islander/Maori yard. Anglo Australians are also kept separate from the other groups...

When the racial clustering policy was introduced in Australia in 1998, NSW gaols had the highest inmate to inmate violence statistics in Australia. It was thought that inmates would be more easily managed if they were separated. This proved to be true. Yarding did greatly reduce the amount of murders in Goulburn Gaol. It is still a violent gaol but not like the 'Killing Fields' of old...

In Goulburn Gaol, prior to the introduction of some yarding of inmates in 1998, there had been seven murders, five of those were within a 12 month period. Goulburn was known as the 'Killing Fields'...

At Goulburn the wars continued and full yarding became the norm by 2001. However, despite yarding, tensions continued to increase and assaults between the groups and pay-back assaults continued. Gradually though, inmate on inmate assaults did decrease.