The date has finally come when the old management of GEO Group hand over the keys for the Junee Correctional Centre to the NSW Government after a 2023 announcement this would be the case.
The State Government opted not to renew GEO’s operating licence, taking the facilities operation into their own hands. The decision has been split, with some thinking the many controversies of the 1,000-inmate jail outweighs the support of GEO, but some are disappointed the many donations and assistance from GEO has now vanished with the government taking the helm.
The correctional centre was built by the NSW government in 1993, and has until now been managed by US company GEO Group.
In a written statement, NSW Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said there was no plan to change the 140 minimum security inmates housed in the jail.
He said most GEO-employed prison staff had accepted positions withCorrective Services NSW (CSNSW), which meant there were enough employees to safely and efficiently run the jail.
“CSNSW intends to increase the prison’s in-mate population and is running a recruitment drive for more staff,” he said.
There has been much controversy surrounding the jail over its tenure, following a slew of deaths in custody throughout the years.
Reuben Button died in his cell in September 2020 just months away from release on parole which prompted calls for an inquiry into NSW prison privatisation. The death of a woman in Junee prison announced in 2022 meant two in-mates lost their lives in Junee’s private prison in just a 3 day period at the end of January of that year. Furthermore, court cases allege smuggled drugs and abuses behind closed doors which, true or not, paint the centre in a dark light.
A strike in 2023 did not help GEO’s case.
Mayor Bob Callow commented to media, saying, he is worried about the hole left in the community from the support offered by GEO.
“From the very outset, the community’s sort of been left in the dark,” he said.”I think the biggest concern for everybody here is going to be the loss of a very, very good business partner.”
Cr Callow said GEO supported Junee’s Meals on Wheels program and also provided scholarships and sponsorships. He said Junee relied on minimum-security prisoners to carry out community service work.
“There is some concern that that minor classification (for minimum-security prisoners) is going to be removed from the the centre,” he said.
“We haven’t had a yes or no on that one.”
“That could all be lost to us as well.”
Greens MLC Sue Higginson said deaths in custody were a “blight on this state”. She called for greater cultural awareness among non-Aboriginal staff towards the “high Aboriginal population” at Junee jail, and said there would be greater accountability with the jail run by the state management.
“We have ministers that are directly responsible and accountable, we have accountability processes, such as our budget estimates process through parliament,” she said. The de-privatisation of the Junee prison leaves only two of the state’s 36 correctional centres in private hands, with Parklea in north-west Sydney to follow suit in October 2026.
Whatever people think of GEO or the new administrators, the prison was knocked back by other towns when it came up to be built. Junee has embraced the prison and enjoyed the employment it brings. Transparency is a must for prisoners and prison guards alike. The future of the new venture is a story yet to be told.
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