Union president Nicole Jess says Goulburn jail has a “very long history” in the state’s corrections history. Photo: John Thistleton.
Union leaders say the message from their members is clear: planned closures to Goulburn’s jail are a mistake.
The Goulburn Correctional Complex houses two facilities — the Goulburn Correctional Centre (Goulburn CC) and the High Risk Management Correctional Centre (HRMCC), or ‘’Supermax’’.
Earlier this year, the NSW Government announced its plan to close the maximum security section of Goulburn CC, which consists of Victorian-era wings.
The Supermax facility will not be affected.
Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre will also face operational changes.
For Public Service Association of NSW (PSA) president Nicole Jess, the community has clearly shown its opposition to the plan.
“It really resonated with me — how every single person that works in that correctional centre is respected in that town for the work that they do,” she said of a recent rally.
“Let’s hope the government respects them just as much.”
As part of the closure, it’s understood 170 inmates will be transferred from Goulburn to the Junee and Clarence correctional centres.
The NSW Government previously said affected staff would be offered opportunities for redeployment to equivalent positions within Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW).
Ms Jess said the closures were set to have a “significant” impact on staff and their workload.
“Whilst no one will lose their job … over time, people will go and transfer,” she said when asked about the impacts on staff.
She is also worried about the long-term impacts on the NSW Southern Tablelands.
“[Goulburn CC] is an intergenerational employment source …We have concerns that, with the reduction, that will stop, which means there’s less money in the community.”
The need to ensure long-term viability for the Goulburn CC was echoed by Darren King, the chair of the Prison Officers Vocational Branch.
Mr King called for further investment in the state’s prison facilities, saying that with the inmate population increasing, the wings could remain in the short term while new infrastructure was built.
“We acknowledge that they are old, but they are in really good nick … They should have had a strategic plan in place for the future [of the Goulburn CC],” he said.
A report released in June 2022 stated it would be “impossible” to refurbish the two wings to satisfactory standards.
Also, the NSW Minister for Corrective Services Anoulack Chanthivong recently told Region that the government’s “primary motive” was providing a safer environment for Corrective Services staff and inmates.
But Mr King isn’t convinced that’s why the wings are being closed.
“It’s purely a cash grab by the government … even though it is a bad time to do it, as there’s currently a prison bed crisis where we haven’t got enough.”
Ms Jess said a late-April rally in the town’s Belmore Park should be taken as a clear message.
“Goulburn sees this as a slap in the face and so does the rest of the state … I think they really need to take it on board,” she said.
“I think they thought that they’d make this decision, and because they’re saying this rhetoric that it’s for staff safety and no one loses their job, that they would just accept it.”
Mr King said the union had been working “in the background” to identify an alternative use for the wings.
“The staff at Goulburn have actually got a plan themselves to, potentially, have domestic violence wings and programs run [there],” he said.
“They are going to put a case forward to the government to consider. They’ve been proactive to ensure that it stays open … I hope that common sense prevails and we do get a commonsense answer.”
The changes are expected to be in effect by the end of September.
