Prisoners in Western Australia who are forced to sleep on mattresses next to toilets due to severe overcrowding are being paid gratuity payments by the state, while judges have begun cutting sentences in response to the dire conditions. The situation has prompted warnings from the Inspector of Custodial Services that the prison system is nearing "functional collapse", raising serious concerns about the treatment of inmates and the state's ability to manage a rapidly growing prison population.

The WA Department of Justice confirmed inmates in "alternative sleeping arrangements" receive up to $10.15 a week, after District Court Judge Linda Black cut a man's sentence last year, citing conditions at Hakea Prison she called "cramped, unhygienic, and undignified". Inspector Eamon Ryan's report found prisoner numbers had risen 37 per cent since January 2023, with as many as 200 inmates sleeping on floor mattresses despite widespread triple-bunking, warning conditions could amount to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment". The government has announced a 480-bed expansion of Acacia Prison to ease pressure, while several inmates, including convicted rapist Fernando Octavio Salas-Collard, are separately suing the state over conditions at Hakea.