Disturbing Allegations Emerge from Inside Melbourne Women’s Prison

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Disturbing claims have surfaced from within the walls of a maximum security women’s prison in Melbourne, revealing troubling details about inmate conditions, mental health crises, and unsanitary living environments. The allegations, drawn from a prisoner’s personal diary, paint a picture of life behind bars that raises urgent questions about oversight, accountability, and the treatment of vulnerable women in state care. From reports of suicide attempts to being locked in cells for days and forced to drink discoloured “green water,” the diary offers a rare and unsettling glimpse into a system under strain.

The inmate’s account details frequent and extended lockdowns, during which women were kept in isolation for days without access to the yard, proper hygiene, or mental health support. Such conditions, the diary suggests, have led to rising tensions, deteriorating wellbeing, and a spate of suicide attempts. Mental health professionals, already stretched thin across Victoria’s public systems, appear even scarcer inside prison walls. These revelations call into question the state government’s priorities, particularly given how heavily it leaned on incarceration during the pandemic while failing to invest in basic infrastructure or support services within correctional facilities.

Perhaps most alarming are the claims of inmates being forced to drink what they described as “green water,” allegedly the result of outdated plumbing and insufficient maintenance. The diary suggests that requests for bottled or filtered water were often denied, leaving women to consume water that appeared visibly unsafe. This is not just a health concern—it is a basic human rights issue. When prisoners, no matter their crimes, are denied access to clean drinking water, it signals a deep failure in the management of state-run institutions.

With Labor continuing to govern Victoria, these troubling conditions raise serious concerns about its approach to criminal justice and prisoner welfare. While the government has long promised reforms and better funding, the lived reality inside facilities like this one tells a different story. If the claims in this diary are even partially true, they demand immediate and transparent investigation not platitudes. Prisons are meant to rehabilitate, not break down individuals. The public deserves answers, and inmates deserve at least the most basic standards of dignity and care.