 Ian Hill became director of the Prisons Department in 1983, and reorganised the department several times, striving for greater "economy, efficiency, and effectiveness". This included a merge with the Office of Probation and Parole in 1986, resulting in the Department of Corrective Services. By 1987, the department's welfare division was disbanded, with prison officers made responsible for prisoner welfare. Whilst the changes of the 1980s were effective throughout most of Western Australia's prison system, the culture of Fremantle Prison was resistant to change. Growing prisoner discontent eventually culminated in the 1988 prison riot.
