Yatala prisoner hospitalised after being

‘brutally bashed’

January 2026 A prisoner was so badly bashed at an Adelaide jail this morning that he was left “barely recognisable” and had to be rushed to hospital for treatment, a union says. The Public Service Association (PSA) said the inmate was attacked at Yatala Labour Prison when another prisoner entered his cell, and two other prisoners followed and “joined in”. Police have confirmed they, along with paramedics, were called to the site following “reports of an altercation bet-ween prisoners”. SA Police said the incident was under investigation but no charges had so far been laid. “A 20-year-old male prisoner sustained non-life-threatening facial injuries during the incident and was taken to hospital for treatment,” police said in a statement. The PSA said the prisoner had been “brutally bashed” inside his cell, and was “unable to stand” without the help of staff. PSA corrections liaison officer, Craig Bates, described the incident as a “serious assault” and said the prisoner had received treatment at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. “A prisoner was approached by another prisoner in his cell and subsequently a few other prisoners then entered the cell as well,” he said. “He struggled to stand. Staff had to assist him down a lift where he remained in the division until an ambulance could get there.” The union, which is pushing for higher wages amid pay negotiations with the state government, said the incident followed separate instances of violence at Yatala in recent months. Mr Bates said there had been an “increase in assaults and violent attacks from prisoners on prisoners and also prisoners on staff” in recent years. “There aren’t as many staff positions within the prison system as what there used to be and that’s really affecting safety and security,” he said. “The prison system across the state has become very unsafe due to a lack of staff, which has resulted directly from poor wages.” A spokesperson for the state government said it was committed to providing a “real wage increase”, and that prison assaults were “taken extremely seriously” and “thoroughly” investigated. “The state government provided an extra $6.8 million in the last state budget to improve security in our prisons, including for new high-tech security scanners, new body scanners and cameras with built-in Artificial Intelligence,” the spokesperson said. “We have made clear our commitment to providing a real wage increase above the current rate of inflation, and that is reflected in the government’s most recent offer to the PSA.”

Greek Tribune Adelaide, South Australia