Source : Perth Now news
A maximum-security prison housing alleged Bondi gunman Naveed Akram will undergo sweeping changes as part of a rethink of NSW’s ageing penitentiaries.
Goulburn Correctional Centre’s maximum-security accommodation wings opened in 1884 and are among the oldest custodial facilities still in use in NSW.
However, on Friday, the NSW government said the Victorian-era wings at Goulburn would be retired in a push to make conditions safer for staff and inmates.
The closure will not affect the Goulburn Supermax for high-risk inmates or the minimum security prison.Since December, the Goulburn Supermax has housed Naveed Akram, who police allege opened fire on a Jewish event on Bondi Beach last year alongside father Sajid Akram, killing 15 innocent people in Australia’s worst-ever terrorist attack.
Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the government was retiring the ageing facilities, which no longer meet safety standards, while investing in “modern, secure and fit-for-purpose correctional centres”.
About 170 prisoners, including murderers and rapists, will be transferred.
“As inmate numbers rise, we are ensuring our staff have the safest possible workplaces and that those in custody are housed in facilities that meet contemporary standards,” Mr Chanthivong said.
“These changes strengthen our system and keep the community and staff safe.”
Under the reforms, impacted staff will be offered redeployment to equivalent positions within Corrective Services NSW, and there are also incentives for those who may wish to relocate.
The reforms also impact Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre in Sydney’s west.
Built in 1969, the site had been criticised for its dilapidated accommodation cells that contain ligature points, the government said.
Two specialist units at Silverwater – the Mental Health Screening Unit and Mum Shirl Unit – will be moved to Dillwynia Correctional Centre, with the rest of the facility set to continue to operate as an intake and reception centre for processing women into custody.
Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Gary McCahon said after reviewing prisons around the state, it was decided reforms to prison infrastructure were necessary to bring the system in line with the department’s focus on “operating safe, secure and humane prisons that provide better working conditions for our officers too”.
“Crucially, these changes will allow us to move high-needs female inmates from Silverwater Women’s to modern accommodation units at Dillwynia Correctional Centre – ensuring our most at-risk women are in specialised, up-to-date facilities,” he said.
A prison visit to Akram in February has reportedly been cancelled after objects, including a knife, were found in his family’s car.
Goulburn Supermax, about two hours from Sydney, has historically housed some of Australia’s worst and most violent criminals, including terrorists and gang members.
Notable past inmates include Ivan Milat, Australia’s first and only extreme high-risk inmate, Brothers4Life founder Bassam Hamzy, and serial rapist Bilal Skaf.
