A ban on smoking in Victorian and New South Wales prisons has led to allegations that Australia has become a “nanny state”.

But inmates in Australian jails are sometimes allowed luxuries the ordinary Australian might not be able to afford – pay TV, stuffed olives and quiet time with their partner – casting these allegations into doubt.

Last Wednesday, Daily Telegraph commentator Miranda Devine wrote in a blog on the news site that the prison smoking ban was a “radical extra punishment imposed for the good of their own health, whether they like it or not” and that Australia was slowly becoming “the world’s most over-regulated nanny state”.

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The two states join the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, who already have prison smoking bans in place.

The Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia have released proposals to prohibit it.

On July 1, heavily armed police stormed a Victorian maximum security prison, bringing more than 300 rioting inmates under control.

Corrections Victoria later confirmed two staff members and several inmates were injured as a result of the protest at Melbourne’s Metropolitan Remand Centre in Ravenhall, in defiance of the state-wide smoking bans for prisoners.

On Wednesday, the riot squad was placed on standby as a precaution as NSW prisons also became smoke-free zones.

NSW Minister for Corrections David Elliott said it was a legislative requirement that all NSW prisons become smoke free.

“Hard-working prison staff have a right to a smoke-free workplace,” Mr Elliott told The New Daily.

“A range of services  are available for staff and inmates to support them to stop smoking, including free Nicotine Replacement Therapy, peer and telephone support such as Quitline, and counselling.”

Former inmate and Justice Action co-ordinator Brett Collins warned in July the ban would escalate tensions in prisons, where up to 76 per cent of inmates smoked.

Meanwhile, libertarian NSW Senator David Leyonhjelm said he’s had enough, and the laws that ‘protect you from yourself’ should be ‘ripped-up’.

He recently launched a senate inquiry into Personal Choice and Community Impact.

“Repeal all of the laws where nobody else is harmed,” Mr Leyonhelm told Fairfax Radio.

“In other words, the laws should protect innocent third parties, they shouldn’t protect you from doing something that might be unwise.”

Here are just some of the luxuries offered to Australian prisoners.

Conjugal visits

Yes, it is allowed in Victoria under certain conditions. As well as private time with partners, prisoners can have access to families.

It was repealed in leglislation in the ACT in 2014.

It’s not allowed in WA.

Entertainment

Prisoners riot in defiance of the new laws at Melbourne’s Metropolitan Remand Centre. Photo: Twitter

A News Ltd investigation revealed Pay-TV packages for Victoria’s jails cost thousands of dollars a month, and Melbourne Remand Centre units had been fitted out with new flat-screen TVs.

Inventories of shops at Langi Kal Kal and Barwon jails reveal inmates could buy snacks such as stuffed olives and “Movietime popping corn”.

In Beechworth and the Metropolitan Remand Centre they can treat themselves to ice-creams.

Prisoners at Ararat jail also had access to new adidas shoes, doonas and Christmas cakes, News Ltd reported.

Expensive items such as watches and shoes were sold at prices lower than ordinary Victorians pay in shops.

In male prisons, moisturisers, loofas, gels and aftershaves are available.

Female inmates in the maximum-security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre are allowed up to 144 products a year from a selection of mascaras, eye shadow, hair treatments, tinted moisturisers and butterfly clips, they said.

In Queensland, prisoners have a trust account of up to $1000 and can buy items from the prison canteens such as music and magazines, but DVDs and gaming consoles are not allowed.

Food

Queensland allows for religious meals, halal and kosher.

Some inmates can buy snacks such as stuffed olives and popcorn. Photo: Shutterstock

Prior to the Victorian prison smoking bans which came into play in July, a special seafood and steak menu, as well as lollipops, was offered in a bid to appease inmates antsy over the ban, Fairfax Media reported.

Prisons across the state are marking the introduction of the ban with barbecues, concerts by prison bands and the distribution of Chupa Chups lollipops in the hope of giving hardened criminals “something to do with their hands” rather than hold a smoke, according to one prison insider.

Internet

It’s not allowed in Queensland.

In Victoria, you cannot communicate with inmates via email, the internet, online chat or social networking websites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Voting

According to the Australian Electoral Commission, only prisoners serving three years or less can vote in Federal elections.

Prisoners serving sentences longer than three years are not allowed to vote in Federal elections. Photo: Shutterstock

Prisoners serving sentences longer than three years are not allowed to vote in Federal elections.

State and local council elections vary from state-to-state.

The Victorian Electoral Commission said: “If you’re serving a prison sentence in Victoria, and your sentence is under five years, you are still entitled to enrol and vote in State and local council elections.”

Tasmanian inmates can vote, with the exception being prisoners serving a sentence of imprisonment for a term of more than three years.

In NSW,  a person who is serving a prison sentence of less than 12 months, who otherwise satisfied the requirements for enrolment, can enrol and vote at state and local government elections.

If you’re an inmate in Queensland you are not entitled to vote in state and local elections.

Those prisoners in the ACT can enrol and vote regardless of the length of their sentence.

Meanwhile, all NT prisons will be visited by a mobile polling team in the week prior to polling day. A mobile polling team will visit each section of the prisons and take the votes of all inmates who are eligible to vote.

Prisoners who are serving a sentence of less than one year may vote in state elections in WA.

In SA, all prisoners are eligible to vote if they are 18 years and over and an Australian citizen enrolled on the electoral role.