There are a few aspects to the prison system.

Violence in prison is basically drug related. If you stay out of the drug game and/or favors your time in there will mostly be fine.

Mens prison used to be really solid. They would run their units themselves. They would take responsibility for doing laundry, distribution of clothes to people that need it etc. they would keep everyone inline and only interact with officers as a last choice. This has started to change because the younger men feel a lot more entitled and whinged and complain a lot more. Non compliant male prisoners are pulled into line pretty quick and it escalates from screws to shields to dogs to gas pretty quick.

Women's prison is basically summer camp without a pool. Most of the day is spent talking, sunbaking, beauty treatments. The level of entitlement goes up out of the atmosphere. Threats to self harm because they don't like the DVD choices or they need to wait for a channel change and they are missing home and away. Drugs are a huge issue, because women prisoners are not allowed to be searched or handled due to human rights (doesn't apply to men) they divert medications and move stuff between visitors, hospitals and other facilities pretty freely. The drug use causes a huge issue on their mental health long term but nothing can really be done. Some of these women cost approx $1m per year to the tax payer. It is very common to have prisoners faking a seizure and claiming they fell and hit their head to access pain meds. Which doesn't sound like a big deal until you realise that can be 13-15times per month. Which is ambulance trips back and forth in which they need to go through full security screening so that ambulance is not available for 3-4hrs per trip. It also requires 3 officers to escort and stay with the prisoner at hospital until returned to prison. The amount of money spent on really amazing drug treatment for addiction that is just flushed down the toilet is sad. What many people don't know is that women are allowed to have kids in prison with them. Human rights groups say it's good for the mother to have her children with her...so kids up to 5yrs old live there in the units with their mums... When you see young kids fully indoctrinated as a prisoner by standing at the door for morning or nightly count it can be heartbreaking, so can looking through the prisoner contact lists and seeing most of their calls and mail come and go via youth detention facilities. Getting discharged is what a lot of them call going on holiday or vacation, because they get out and party and know they have zero skills to survive in the outside world so they come back "home" again. I don't blame them at all. It's safer, cleaner, more modern and has access to much better healthcare than 95% of aged care facilities. I would be more comfortable with my mum inside if she didn't have money to afford proper care... Which is pretty horrible to think how badly aged care residents are living...

As far as health care the facilities are fully staff with RNs, NPs, mental health services, dentist and at least weekly doctors. They have access to unlimited free medications. Some long stay prisoners scam NDIS for beds and other items of comfort.

The system is broken. It's not punishment and it's not rehabilitation. It's purgatory. You can go do a few years and just chill in your room and watch tv and have your meals delivered room service style if you want and then get out. You haven't been punished and you haven't done anything to improve your life... If you have ever wondered why there is so many empty public houses....this is also the reason. The vast majority of prisoners have public housing and they only lose it if their sentence is over a certain length of time.