{
  "id": 146228,
  "title": "Prisoners paid compensation for sleeping on floor amid overcrowding",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/04/prisoners-paid-compensation-for-sleeping-on-floor-amid-overcrowding",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-04T21:12:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News AU",
    "slug": "abc-news-au",
    "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-05/prisoners-receiving-compensation-due-to-overcrowding-in-wa-jails/106992406"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Prisoners in Western Australian prisons are receiving financial compensation to sleep on the floor due to overcrowding, the ABC has learned. This payment, up to $10.15 per week, is granted to inmates accommodated in alternative sleeping arrangements, such as mattresses on the floor in cramped cells. The Department of Justice confirmed these payments, which vary depending on the level of skill or effort involved in the alternative arrangements. The overcrowding, described by a Supreme Court Justice as \"significant and inhumane,\" has also led to reduced sentences for criminals convicted of serious offenses. The number of inmates receiving the payment fluctuates daily based on the number of prisoners in alternative sleeping arrangements across the prison system.",
  "summary": "Prisoners are receiving financial compensation for sleeping on the floor due to overcrowding across Western Australian jails, the ABC can reveal.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}