NSW Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the government would work to continue partnerships with the local community. Photo: Erin Hee.
More than 40 new correctional officers graduated on Tuesday (30 September) at Junee Correctional Centre’s first attestation ceremony since it returned to public ownership in April.
The 1000-capacity prison had been operated by US company GEO Group since 1993, with the decision to transition to NSW Government control met with mixed feelings and concerns over whether the community would continue to benefit from service work by minimum security inmates and GEO’s sponsorships.
NSW Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the transition to Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) meant better pay and conditions for staff, and CSNSW would continue working to secure partnerships with local organisations, such as the GEO-supported Meals on Wheels program in Junee.
“We’re working very hard to continue those partnerships with Meals on Wheels, working with the local community to volunteer and continue to find ways to work with the local community,” he said.
“Corrections are an important part of the local regional community, and will continue to play that role.”
As part of their rehabilitation, minimum security inmates carried out community service work while under GEO’s management.
One way they have been doing that since the public ownership transition has been through service work at the Roundhouse Railway Museum, where three inmates have volunteered twice a week over the past three weeks.
They have been assisting with tasks such as garden maintenance and cleaning the model rail trains, which has been “fantastic” for the ageing management staff.
Museum Secretary Gail Commens said having volunteer inmates around was “fantastic” as certain tasks were getting harder. Photo: Erin Hee.
Secretary Gail Commens said there hadn’t been any volunteers since COVID, until the government took over.
“We’re all getting too old to be up on scaffolding and what have you to clean the tops [of the steam engines],” she said.
“It’s also great to give those minimum security inmates the opportunity to come out and help out in the community.”
Minimum security inmates assisted with cleaning the tops of the steam engines. Photo: Erin Hee.
Her experience with them had been nothing but respectful.
“They’re people [and] they’re in there for a reason. They’re still human beings, and we’ve given them a cup of tea for morning tea and things like that,” she said.
“They don’t hang around and talk to us, and we don’t interrupt them, but we’ll say hello and talk to them when they have their cup of tea.”
Other skills-based training and rehabilitative opportunities for inmates, including the Junee Correctional Centre bakery, will expand their operations to all correctional centre facilities in NSW’s southern region.
CSNSW Governor Troy Seychelles said the main change he noticed was a boost to morale.
CSNSW Governor Troy Seychelles said the ownership transition had boosted morale among staff, but the wider corrective services network was in a constant state of recruitment.
“Main change … is that the first comment that I get from the boots on the ground is that they’ve remunerated really well for their job, and their salaries have obviously increased,” he said.
“We’re in a constant state of recruitment, and that’s the same across every centre, with the natural attrition of staff moving on and around the state.
“Next four months is now starting to go into business as usual. We’ve changed a little bit of the operations and aligned it with the centres across the state.
“Hopefully once we increase our staff profile, we’ll increase the inmate profile.”
