1500-bed Lockyer Valley Correction Centre prepares to recieve first inmates

An increase in property crime, a Parole Board backlog and spikes in prisoners breaching their parole has lead to widespread overcrowding in our jails. This new jail will help, but only in the short term.

A look inside the Lockyer Valley Correctional Centre, which is under construction for the Queensland Government by contractor John Holland.

The hopes of easing the pressure on Queensland’s overcrowded prison rest on the newly built Lockyer Valley Correction Centre which is expected to start receiving inmates within weeks.

Costing almost $1 billion, the centre sprawls over 22 hectares and will house about 1,500 prisoners, or about 15 per cent of Queensland’s prisoners.

It is Queensland’s largest prison and has taken about a decade to fund, design, and build the centre.

Meanwhile, our population has increased by 150 per cent, to all 10,000.

The spike in prisoner numbers, coupled with the delay in building new centres, has led to significant overcrowding at Queensland’s other jails.

Queensland's prisoner population growth, from 2010 to 2022 (Source: Australian Productivity Commission, Report of Government Services)

A 2024 Queensland Ombudsman report found prisoner numbers almost doubled since 2010.

That growth was the result of increases in the number of reported and cleared property offences, magistrates and judges opting for jail over non-custodial orders, a backlog in Parole Board applications, and an increase in prisoners being returned to jail after breaching their parole.

The report found six of Queensland’s nine prisons were either at capacity or overcrowded.

They included the state’s largest centres: Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, Woodford Correctional Centre, Borallon Training and Correctional Centre, Brisbane Correctional Centre, and Capricornia Correctional Centre.

Worryingly, the LVCC may only provided temporary relief with Queensland’s prison population forecast to hit 11,400 but 2027.

At an official handover for the LVCC on Friday, Corrective Services Minister Laura Gerber said the State Government had delivered on its commitment to build new jails and ease pressure on the prison system.

“The commissioning of the Lockyer Valley Correctional Centre is a major milestone in addressing the capacity issues in Queensland’s prison system,” Minister Gerber said.

“We owe it to our corrections staff to ensure facilities are a safe place to work and a place where effective rehabilitation occurs to reduce offending across Queensland.”

The new centre will focus on rehabilitation, with modern teaching and workshop spaces designed to help inmates address the cause of their offending.

Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor Tanya Milligan said she was thrilled to see the Lockyer Valley Correctional Centre enter the operational commissioning phase, bringing about 800 jobs to the region.

“The new correctional centre is quite transformational for our region in size, given it is bigger than 16 Suncorp Stadiums and the first of its kind in Queensland,” Ms Milligan said.

“With a focus on rehabilitation, we’re proud to be part of a safer Queensland.”

The hopes of easing the pressure on Queensland’s overcrowded prison rest on the newly built Lockyer Valley Correction Centre which is expected to start receiving inmates within weeks.

Costing almost $1 billion, the centre sprawls over 22 hectares and will house about 1,500 prisoners, or about 15 per cent of Queensland’s prisoners.

It is Queensland’s largest prison and has taken about a decade to fund, design, and build the centre.

Meanwhile, our population has increased by 150 per cent, to all 10,000.

The spike in prisoner numbers, coupled with the delay in building new centres, has led to significant overcrowding at Queensland’s other jails.

Originally published as 1500-bed Lockyer Valley Correction Centre prepares to recieve first inmates