At 6.30pm on 31 March 2025, Junee Correctional Centre transitioned from the multinational private organisation called GEO to the NSW Public sector under Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW). This transfer has come about due to the Prison Officer Vocational Branch and PSA “No Prisons for Profit” campaign to eliminate the privatisation of prisons in NSW.

The POVB State Executive predicted that there would be many issues to resolve in the transition phase. This was mainly due to GEO’s refusal to allow POVB representatives into the centre to observe how the centre was running and what changes would need to be organised prior to the changeover.

POVB representatives did meet with some staff prior to the changeover listening to concerns of the officers. These officers put themselves at risk of sanctions by meeting with the POVB as GEO made it clear they did not want any of their staff speaking to the POVB in the months prior to handing over the centre.

Day one can only be described as utter confusion, where CSNSW and GEO procedures were mixed. There were issues, such as insufficient keys due to the increased staffing numbers. Over the first few days, the staffs’ patience, understanding and adaptability was incredible under these conditions and much credit must be given to the Junee Correctional Officers ran the centre to the best of their ability.

Junee now operates a seven-person Immediate Action Team (IAT) as well as having the State operations Group (SOG) based onsite. None of this response capability was in place under GEO.

Staffing profiles and base pay has increased significantly under CSNSW in comparison to when GEO managed Junee. Some individual pays have increased tens of thousands of dollars.

Absolute credit goes out to all Junee staff who have tolerated the difficulties and are truly committed to making Junee CC a centre of excellence.

After meeting with the staff and witnessing the camaraderie, I have no doubt that Junee will be an excellent work location where staff are united with the same goal.

As Chair of the POVB, I am proud to state that Junee Correctional Centre almost has a 100 per cent POVB membership with 13 elected POVB delegates. This could not have been achieved without the Junee staff, who met with us whilst still under GEO as well as the commitment and dedication of the POVB Executive team who gave up their own personal time to achieve this fantastic result.

Regards,

Keith Smith
POVB Chairperson