By Kieran Rooney and Broede Carmody
Victoria’s maximum security Port Phillip Prison will close by the end of next year and inmates will be moved to other facilities.
The Allan government announced the decision on Wednesday afternoon alongside details about the opening of Western Plains Correctional Centre in Lara, north-east of Geelong, which was completed in 2022 but has since been sitting empty.
The new 1248-bed maximum-security facility cost $1.1 billion to build and is in the Barwon Prison precinct. It won’t start housing prisoners until mid-2025, 2½ years after major works were completed.
The Age was the first to confirm Port Phillip’s closure on Wednesday morning. The maximum-security prison at Truganina, in Melbourne’s west, is the state’s largest and has been running since September 1997.
Port Phillip is privately operated by global security company G4S and in 2017 had its contract extended for 20 years, but this was subject to the company’s performance.
Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan declined to answer questions on Wednesday about G4S’s performance or reveal how much it may cost to tear up the agreement, other than to say the government was exercising its right to sever the contract earlier than first anticipated.
“I’m not going to run a commentary about the performance at Port Phillip Prison today,” Erdogan said.
But another Labor source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the view within the government was that Port Phillip was not performing well.
The prison has been in the spotlight over a number of recent incidents, including a coronial inquiry into the death while on remand of Indigenous man Joshua Kerr in 2022, and the suspension this month of eight prison officers while an inmate’s injuries from slipping on his own waste are investigated.
G4S says its employees receive thorough training when it comes to prisoner care. More than 800 staff work at Port Phillip, which will stay open until December 2025. Employees will be offered roles at other maximum security prisons or a redundancy package.
Port Phillip Prison is privately operated by global security company G4S.Credit: Paul Jeffers
The government expects about 600 jobs will be available at the new 1200-bed Western Plains facility.
As for what will happen to the Port Phillip facility, Erdogan would not rule out selling the 60-hectare site. “The government will consider all options,” he said. “But … we need to have a community process first.”
The former Pentridge Prison site in Coburg was transformed into a mixed-use development, featuring housing, shops and even a cinema.
Victoria’s budget papers forecast net debt to rise to $187.8 billion by June 2028.
Coalition corrections spokesman Brad Battin said the Allan government should be condemned for the Western Plains facility sitting empty.
“In the two most recent public and accounts estimates committee hearings it was highlighted that $36 million was spent on operational costs to maintain the empty facility at a time crime continues to increase, Victoria suffers a police shortage and Labor continue to cut crime prevention programs,” Battin said.
“Finally, the Allan Labor government has conceded the prison must open and operate to stop pouring millions of dollars down the drain that could be used to keep Victorians safe.”
Opposition corrections spokesman Brad Battin.Credit: Penny Stephens
As part of Wednesday’s announcement, the government revealed that the 59-year-old Dhurringile Prison, south-west of Shepparton, would also close, and its prisoners would be transferred to another facility just outside Beechworth.
As with the employees at Port Phillip, Dhurringile staff will be offered roles at other facilities or within the Justice Department more broadly.
A spokesperson for G4S Australia, Port Philip’s private operator, said the company would ensure a smooth closure.
“We thank all our staff and partners for their professionalism and dedication to create a modern, safe and humane maximum security prison system that works to maintain public safety,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Community and Public Sector Union, the union responsible for prison workers, said redundancy provisions and new job offers would be closely monitored.
“Job security going forward is paramount,” the union spokesperson said.
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