Police armed with tear gas and water cannons were on Tuesday evening still attempting to contain a riot that broke out at a maximum security prison in Victoria earlier in the day, after prisoners became angered by the introduction of a smoking ban.
All staff were evacuated from the prison in Ravenhall, Victoria, after several hundred prisoners rioted.
The unrest began at 12.20pm at the Metropolitan remand centre, in the outer western suburbs of Melbourne, Corrections Victoria said, when prisoners breached an inner perimeter fence.
Parts of the prison were locked down and police secured the outer perimeter, it said in a statement. All staff were accounted for and there were no reports of staff injuries.
A police spokeswoman said staff had been evacuated as a precaution and inmates were contained within the grounds. Police units were at the scene, including officers from the air wing, she said.
The Seven Network’s news helicopter filmed prisoners with their faces covered, carrying sticks and bashing doors.
About 300 prisoners were involved in the disturbance, the ABC reported.
Fairfax Media reported that a group of them had forced their way into the control room, but neither Victoria Police media or Corrections Victoria would confirm this. There were also reports from the Australian newspaper that tear gas was being used by police in a bid to control the riots.
Two loud bangs just came from within prison. Unsure if they were shots @theage #ravenhall
— Tammy Mills (@TammyMills1) June 30, 2015
At least six fire trucks were at the prison after a fire alarm was triggered. Prisoners were reportedly lighting fires as they roamed the grounds, AAP reported.
Sources confirmed to Guardian Australia the riot was a reaction to the smoking ban being implemented in prisons across the state from Wednesday. It is understood the ban at Ravenhall was introduced on Tuesday.
On Tuesday Victoria’s corrections commissioner, Jan Shuard, told ABC radio the prison system was “very ready” for the implementation of the ban. The Metropolitan remand centre is one of the state’s main prisons.
Following the outbreak of violence, she told reporters that a full review would be carried out into how it occurred once the prisoners had been contained.
Corrections Commissioner Jan Shuard can't recall a bigger prison riot in Victoria's history. #ravenhall @3AW693 pic.twitter.com/WAyTlcipss
— Jordan Tunbridge (@JordanTunbridge) June 30, 2015
A spokeswoman for the corrections minister, Wade Noonan, said the minister would not be commenting until it was “operationally appropriate” to do so.
According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data, about 84% of the prison population smokes.
Simon Chapman, a tobacco researcher and professor of public health at the University of Sydney, has questioned the value of smoking bans in outdoor spaces, including in prisons.
“There’s no evidence that it’s harmful to anyone but the smoker in wide open spaces, so my view is smoking ought to be allowed in open areas,” he said.
Chapman said reviews of the effect of smoking bans in prison systems around the world showed varied success rates.
“In some prisons, it has been said to have worked well, and in other prisons there have been reports of difficulties, similar to the one described unfolding in Melbourne.”
A government inquiry found that a ban on smoking was partly to blame for a prison riot at Woodford correctional centre in Queensland in 1997.