Designated smoking areas - means an area of a workplace designated under regulation 3.44F (1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations WA 1996 to be an area in which persons may smoke.
During visits if a Detainee and/or Visitor wants to have a cigarette, they are not allowed to go together and must be escorted by security, (under the condition that there is enough staff on duty - the alternative being to cancel the visit/ or not enjoy the time spent during the visit). If staff members are available, the visitor is escorted back through several buildings out to the front entrance and the Detainee taken out the back.
If you are a smoker, then you understand how difficult it is to refrain from smoking for hours at a time, especially if you're visit is making you anxious or stressed and need to smoke to calm yourself.
Other Detention Facilities have both an indoor and outdoor visitors area - with designated smoking areas that have a wall mounted cigarette lighter available to accommodate all the smokers.
The current method in which the Centre is handling the needs of smokers during visits is impracticle, time consuming, discriminatory, and wasteful of staff resources.
