More than 200 new Corrections Officers to meet 20 per cent jump in prisoners over past year
The Territory government is set to deliver a record 202 new Correctional Officers this financial year, marking the largest single workforce expansion in the Territory’s corrections history.
Police & Courts
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The Northern Territory government is set to deliver a record 202 new Correctional Officers this financial year, marking the largest single workforce expansion in the Territory’s corrections history.
The Country Liberal Party’s tough on crime policies have also led to unprecedented numbers of Territorians behind bars – with an expansion of the private prison guard program anticipated as the system struggles to keep pace with the influx of inmates.
As of Friday morning there were 2813 adults in custody, 44 in the Palmerston police watch house, and 410 at Berrimah Prison.
It marks a more than 20 per cent jump in prisoner numbers since June last year before the CLP took power, and a 55 per cent increase across the decade from June 2015.
Helping to meet the demand, 32 new trainee Correctional Officers graduated at a ceremony at Holtze on Friday.
Since July, 163 officers have been recruited, including experienced Correctional Officers from other jurisdictions, and an additional 39 are due to commence by the end of this month.
About 55 have left over the same period, with the custodial staff retention rate improving to 93.5 per cent compared with 91.3 per cent last year.
Twenty G4S staff are also assisting corrections operations – with plans for the number of private staff to grow in the coming months.
Corrections Minister Gerard Maley confirmed that would not mean private staff working as guards inside prisons.
“There’s no plan from the CLP government to put private contractors behind the wire,” Mr Maley said.
Last month a Corrections Officer lost their eye after allegedly being assaulted at the Darwin Correctional Centre.
Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley said a prisoner allegedly threw two crutches at the officer, one of them striking him in the eye.
Asked if he believed the ballooning prisoner numbers had increased risks to staff, Commissioner Varley said safety was “always critically important, and always challenging”.
“That incident is extremely serious and extremely tragic,” he said.
“We’ve commissioned a very detailed independent review into that process to understand whether there are other systemic issues that we can address.
“But let’s be honest – Corrections Officers every day come to work in a risky environment, they have a challenging and risk laden job.
“That’s why these (graduate) officers stepping up to the challenge today is a sign of their commitment to keeping people safe.”
Mr Varley said the injured officer was undergoing rehabilitation, and was welcome to return to the job if he wished.
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