Location | Cooma, New South Wales |
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Status | Operational |
Security class | minimum/medium security |
Capacity | 140 inmates. 53 staff |
Opened | November 2001. originally opened in 1873 |
Closed | early 1900s. again in 1988 |
Managed by | Corrective Services NSW |
Cooma Correctional Centre is an Australian prison facility located in Vale St, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia.
Construction of the Cooma Correctional Centre commenced in 1870 from local granite which was quarried from the hill where the Centre now stands. The Centre commenced operations on 1 November 1873 with 31 cells. In 1876 it was reduced to a Police Gaol and then a temporary Lunatic Asylum in 1877. The Centre closed temporarily in the early 1900s.
The Gaol reopened on 8 March 1957 and was again closed 10 July 1998. Cooma Correctional Centre reopened for the second time in November 2001.
The Centre is a minimum and medium security institution located only one hour's drive south of Canberra, 410 km from Sydney and 652 km from Melbourne. The Centre has accommodation for 160 inmates and a total of 53 staff, consisting of 31 custodial officers, 9 overseers and 13 support staff. Cooma correctional centre has also been a storage space for the army and a storage space for the snowy scheme