PRISON CAPACITY BOOST
Government to add 162 beds to Barwon jail to meet demand
AN extra 162 new beds will be built at Barwon Prison to ensure Victoria’s prison system continues to meet future demand.
The new maximum-security beds are expected to be operational in 2021, enabling the prison to accommodate 640 prisoners.
Supporting infrastructure for the additional beds will also be built, including a new medical and clinical administration building, an industry building and visitor centre.
The existing programs and medical building will be refurbished and repurposed, and internal fencing will be built.
Corrections Minister Ben Carroll said the Government was strengthening Barwon Prison by increasing its capacity and investing in key infrastructure to keep staff and the community safe.
“We know that community safety is more than just building more prison beds — that’s why we’re boosting prison programs and investing in education and skill development,” he said.
The expansion of Barwon Prison will create local jobs and deliver supporting infrastructure to strengthen existing security and services at the facility.
A request for tender for early works, which includes fencing, carparks and site offices, will be released today.
Lara MP John Eren said the upgrade would provide a jobs boost locally.
“Across the state our infrastructure projects are creating hundreds of local jobs and creating a more secure prison system that enhances community safety,” he said.
Across the Victorian prison system, 1600 new beds will become available as part of a $1.8 billion State Budget investment in planning for growth and delivering programs to break the cycle of reoffending and keeping people out of prison.
Of the 1600 new beds, 626 of these will be delivered using prefabricated modular cells to reduce construction timeframes and overall costs.
Twenty-four management beds will also be prefabricated.
There will be a mixture of single and double prefabricated modular cells, which will be permanently installed across a number of Victorian prisons.
The Local Jobs First — Victorian Industry Participation Policy local content requirements will ensure Victorian contractors and workers are given the opportunity to build the new statewide prefabricated modular cells, with registered apprentices, trainees and cadets to make up 10 per cent of the project’s total estimated labour hours.