Mount Gambier Prison
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| Australian Prisons | |
| Mount Gambier Prison | |
| Location: | Mount Gambier, South Australia |
| Status: | Operational |
| Classification: | Caters principally for medium and low security, male sentenced prisoners; can also accommodate short-term high security male and female remandees. |
| Capacity: | 139 |
| Opened: | 1995 |
| Closed: | Currently operational |
| Managed by: | GSL Custodial Services |
Mount Gambier Prison is an Australian prison located in Mount Gambier, South Australia. It is the first prison in South Australia to be privately managed by GSL Custodial Services Pty Ltd (previously Group 4 Corrections Services), the Prison caters principally for medium and low security, male sentenced prisoners; can also accommodate short-term high security male and female remandees to facilitate local Court appearances.
Mount Gambier Prison was the first privately operated prison in South Australia. The prison was commissioned in 1995 with an initial contract for 5 years. The contract was renewed for a further 5 years in June 2000, extended for 6 months in June 2005 and then again renewed for a period of 5 years from December 2005. GSL prison management are responsible for the operation, management and maintenance of the prison and work in a close partnership arrangement with the South Australian Department for Correctional Services (DCS). There are two DCS Supervisors employed at the prison and these officers have a dual operational and monitoring role. Mount Gambier prison provides a range of Education and Program activities for prisoners and has a large timber furniture manufacturing workshop. Prisoners have the opportunity to complete education and program courses and to gain employment skills and qualifications in the workshop area for use upon release. All prisoners are placed on to incentive based regimes which provide varying levels of privileges based on behaviour, and these regimes are consistent with other prisons in the State.
Prisoners have access to a range of accommodation, from a traditional cell block arrangement, to shared and independent living cottages. There is also a small induction area, which houses new prisoners prior to them being allocated suitable cell block accommodation in line with their need, and a small allocation of high security cells which accommodates short-term high security male and female remandees as required.
Increase in capacity
In 2007, to address pressure on the South Australian Custodial Correctional system, the prisons capacity increased from 110 to 139 beds.[2]
Lifeline's Role At Mount Gambier Prison
A strong partnership exists between Lifeline South East and Mount Gambier Prison. This relationship began in mid 1995 with Lifeline's involvement in suicide awareness training for new prison staff. Lifeline's 'Shared Beliefs and Values Statement' which emphasises the essential worth of all people, dovetails with GSL's philosophies of prison management. From this shared perspective, it has been possible to embark on the establishment of many of the recommendations for the prevention of prison suicide and self harm as comprehensively outlined by Stephen Tumim in his 1990 review of English and Welsh prisons. One of the recommendations was for a peer support programme. At Mount Gambier Prison this counselling programme has grown from a fragile embryo to a well respected and well used resource known as the 'Listeners.' The group is maintained by monthly supervision and support from Lifeline, encouragement from management, acceptance by staff and prisoners and most importantly, ownership by group members. Several members of this peer support programme have gone on to become members of the prison Suicide and Self Harm Committee along with management and outside agency representation. Again this is one of the recommendations of the Tumim review. Additionally prisoners have free 24 hour access to telephone counselling from Lifeline and this is encouraged and supported by staff and management. Lifeline is also a key component in the community visitors scheme which seeks to link prisoners who have only a few visitors with members of the local community. Lifeline continues to provide training to new staff and on going professional development to existing staff. The partnership of Lifeline and GSL has provided the foundations for the progress towards their shared goal of suicide prevention in custody.
In 2005 Mount Gambier Prison's new state-of-the art Control Room was officially commissioned.
As reported in the Feb 2005 edition of the Department of Correctional Services' E-Newsletter:
The $950,000 facility completes a major security upgrade at the prison which also included two new energised perimeter fences, new microwave movement detection equipment, and new remote-controlled closed-circuit video cameras. The purpose-built control room is located near the entrance to the prison and incorporates a badly-needed Visitor Processing Centre. The new facility includes eight CCTV monitors which can be automatically or manually focussed on a single area or multiple areas inside and outside the prison. A further monitor provides staff with an aerial view, on which any security breaches can be tracked. The control room, the most technologically advanced facility of its type in Australia, provides staff with instant, automatic, multi-camera visual coverage of the prison and its perimeter. Any security breach instantly triggers alarms and the CCTV system. A unique aspect of part of the control room is a perspex "false floor". The kilometres of cabling required for all the security devices to interface with the computer system have been carefully laid out, and can be seen under the see-through floor. The floor can be easily removed for cable maintenance. The comfort of staff has also been taken into account with a "crew comfort station" incorporated into the middle of the room - allowing operators to prepare food and drinks without leaving the control room. The technology and design of the new room has attracted interest from prison administrators throughout Australia and around the world. The success of this project is likely to generate export trade for South Australia, as the Department's expertise in this area is considerably in advance of that in other jurisdictions.
[edit] References
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