Corrections officers surge as prison numbers grow
NT Corrections officers numbers have surged to match an increase in inmates. Read the numbers.
Two of the NT’s 19 new correctional officers highlight the vastly difference experiences mature recruits bring to the job.
Erin Hicks comes from a background in finance and hospitality and Marc Carmichael worked with Coca-Cola for 27 years.
The newly inducted 19 marched out at Holtze Prison on Friday morning after completing the first stage of the 12-month training program.
They met with Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley and Corrections Minister Gerard Maley, as they prepared to embark on the next phase of their careers.
As well as locally, the officers come from New Zealand, India, China and Zimbabwe and from backgrounds as diverse as health care, construction and education.
The course commenced on September 29 and the past eight or so days has been spent shadowing correctional officers as they go about their jobs.
“Previously I worked in finance and hospitality so a lot of customer service, management and relationships,” Erin said.
“It’s definitely a career shift but to me it’s still people, it’s still building relationships and customer service gives it a different kind of aspect, I guess.”
“The 11-weeks of the course so far has included indigenous health, first-aid and we worked on the nuts and bolts of things like handcuffing, learning how to protect ourselves and how to de-escalate verbally as well.”
After almost three decades with Coca Cola, Marc quit the corporation late last year and was in the Army Reserve until joining Corrections during the September intake.
“I decided to join Corrections to be on a different path, it’s definitely different to retail and to what I’ve been doing before,” he said. “A lot of the Army aspects have come across in this as well which has made it a bit easier.
“It’s 100 per cent different to what I’ve done but in my previous role I did a lot of work in Indigenous communities and to be able to work in Indigenous communities.”
Both had friends who worked in Corrections who talked about the value in the job and the high-quality training which prompted their applications.
And they’re not alone. This time last year there were 681 correctional officers in the Territory, compared to 790 today.
In addition, there are 68 corrections officers privately employed by G4S.
The new officers are among 110 trainee correctional officers who have commenced this year in Darwin and 18 in Alice Springs. The experienced correctional officer workforce has also grown, with 21 starting in Darwin and 47 commencing in Alice Springs.
As of Friday, there are 2787 adult prisoners in the Territory, of which about 175 are women and 60 in youth detention. Peak capacity was 2855 adult prisoners in late August.
Corrections Minister Gerard Maley praised the contribution of corrections officers.
“Our officers do outstanding work, and as a Government we are backing them with the staff, facilities and infrastructure they need,” he said.
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Originally published as Corrections officers surge as prison numbers grow
