Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre has only housed six prisoners since opening in 2018

A pricey prison intended to house Victoria’s most dangerous criminals has sat almost empty since being built, despite 50 specialist staff employed to man the venue.

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre. Supplied: Kane Constructions

A $52 million prison built to house some of Victoria’s most dangerous criminals has sat almost empty since being built.

Just six people have been held at the 20-bed Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre, in Ararat, since it was opened in 2018.

But 50 specialist staff including clinicians, case workers and managers are employed around the clock to staff the venue.

Serious offenders subject to specific conditions as part of ongoing court-imposed supervision after completing their sentence are sent to the facility.

It is the only post-sentence facility Victoria to house serious sex offenders and serious violent offenders side-by-side.

Offenders receive intensive treatment through a structured two-year program to prepare for a return to the community.

It is understood four violent offenders and two serious sexual offenders are currently housed at the facility with no prisoner yet to transition back to community life.

Just six people have been held at the Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre since it opened in 2018. Supplied: Kane Constructions

At least two others are expected to move to the prison once their sentences end.

Acting Corrections Commissioner Larissa Strong told a parliamentary hearing this week the prisoner to staff ratio was significantly higher than other prisons.

“Rivergum is a very different model,” Ms Strong said.

“It is for a post-sentence scheme … It is a therapeutic community, so it has a high overlay of clinical staff as well as occupational therapists.

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“The whole model is about engaging in behaviour change both through caseworkers as well as the clinicians and the other multidisciplinary team doing that component.

“There is group work every day; there is individual work every day with the residents of Rivergum.”

But opposition corrections spokesman David Southwick questioned the under-utilisation of the prison.

Rivergum Residential Treatment Centre. Supplied- Kane Constructions

“With 50 specialist staff to manage 6 offenders, it’s little wonder why Daniel Andrews is running the most expensive, yet worst performing prisons in the nation,” he said.

“As reoffending continues and staff are seconded to hotel quarantine, Victorian taxpayers cannot afford this waste.

“It shows Daniel Andrews’ priorities are all wrong when frontline police, nurses and teachers all are calling for greater resources yet serious offenders get 2.5 staff each.”

A government spokeswoman said: “We make no apologies for building the facilities we need to keep people safe.

“The Harper Review recommended a tailored approach to facilitate the delivery of targeted interventions within residential facilities – and as promised, that’s exactly what we’ve delivered.

“Decisions relating to post sentence orders are ultimately a matter for the courts.”