It comes as figures reveal thousands of Queensland prisoners are doubling-up in cells designed for one inmate, and assaults on guards have skyrocketed.

Queensland Corrective Services has revealed the extent of overcrowding in the state's prisons, in a submission to a crime watchdog investigation into corruption risks in jails.

The state's prison population has increased by more than 50 per cent since January 2012, while more than 3890 prisoners were sharing accommodation designed for just one prisoner in March.

Queensland's secure correctional centres were at 131 per cent of capacity, as at March 31.

In some locations, secure accommodation units are operating at 200 per cent, meaning every cell designed for a single prisoner is occupied by two people.

While the male prisoner population was rising, the female population was rising faster.

Since January 2012, the number of female prisoners in south Queensland has increased by 80 per cent.

The QCS submission said overcrowding in jails increased the rate of death, injury and escape, and reduced access to rehabilitation, which in turn compromised safety.

Those risks were demonstrated by the increased number of assaults on staff over the past five years, it said.

Last year, there were 305 staff victims of assaults, up from 129 in 2011-12.

There were 1492 prisoner victims of assault who required medical treatment, and 250 prisoners required hospitalisation or ongoing treatment after being attacked by other prisoners.

There was also a rise in prisoner self-harm incidents, including attempted suicide, beyond the rate of prisoner population growth.

In 2011-12, the self-harm incident rate was 4.9 per 100 prisoners. That rate had increased by 182 per cent to 13.2 per 100 prisoners last year.

To cope with overcrowding, authorities have adapted prisoner movements to manage competition for facilities and reduce known points of conflict and high-risk periods.

Extra exercise equipment was provided and gym and oval rosters revised to allow more outside time.

Prisoners who want to remove themselves from the noise and activity inside secure accommodation units have been allowed increased cell access, and headphones are available to help mitigate the noisiness of shared cells.

Prisoner industries have been extended from five to seven days of operation in some locations.

The growth in prisoner numbers placed a strain on prison infrastructure, with sewerage failures occurring at both Brisbane Women's and Arthur Gorrie correctional centres in recent years.

"System failures disrupt operations and can make prisoner accommodation units unusable, increasing demand on other overcrowded units and centres," the submission reads.

There was an increase in property being damaged by prisoners, resulting in QCS exceeding minor capital works and building maintenance budgets, due to increasing costs to repair damage.

Queensland Health was feeling the pressure of a rising prison population, which had a higher level of infectious disease, mental illness and drug and alcohol problems than in the general community, and access to legal services was also adversely affected with the number of remand and parole prisoners continuing to increase.

In 2017, GEO, the provider at Arthur Gorrie, declined a request to take more prisoners beyond the current contracted level of 1187 prisoners, or 135 per cent, due to concerns about staff and prisoner safety and infrastructure limits.

Serco, the operator of Southern Queensland Correctional Centre, said it was unlikely to accept any further proposals to take more prisoners past the current contracted level of 402 prisoners, or 133 per cent.

That meant the impact of rising prisoner numbers would disproportionately affect  publicly-operated centres, unless the privately-operated centres took more inmates.

Since 2015, the Queensland government has implemented a number of strategies aimed at reducing the growth in the prisoner population, including the Sofronoff Review, re-entry services and Sisters Inside Supreme Court bail program.

The government has also set aside $200 million to increase the capacity at the Capricornia Correction Centre, and is progressing the business case for cell expansion at Arthur Gorrie and Southern Queensland.

QCS is also installing 1000 bunks to increase bed capacity, so prisoners who have to share a single cell have a purpose-build bunk, rather than a mattress on the floor.

The CCC will hold a public hearing into corruption and corruption risks in Queensland corrective services facilities from May 14 as part of Taskforce Flaxton.