The Northern Territory Government has today announced a major investment in the future of Corrections, including a new Men’s Remand Centre and a dedicated Women’s Correctional Centre at Holtze, delivering the capacity, safety and rehabilitation infrastructure needed for a stronger correctional system.
Commissioner of Corrections Matthew Varley said the announcement was not just about building more beds but about building the right correctional system for the Territory – one that improves community safety, supports staff and gives prisoners better opportunities to change their lives.
“Two years ago, the Chief Minister and the Corrections Minister asked me a question: what do we need to do to fix Corrections and set it up for the future?”
“The answer was never a single project. It was a long-term plan to strengthen our workforce, expand capacity, reduce pressure on police watch houses, improve rehabilitation and modernise our infrastructure.”
“Since that day, this Government has backed Corrections every step of the way.”
“Corrections today is stronger, more capable and delivering better results.”
Over the past two years, the Government and the Department of Corrections have strengthened the foundations of the system by recommissioning Berrimah Correctional Centre, opening the Territory’s first purpose-built youth detention centre, establishing women’s facilities in Alice Springs and Darwin, expanding community corrections supervision and electronic monitoring, and increasing investment in rehabilitation, treatment, education and employment programs.
The Department has also grown its workforce from 1,300 staff in September 2024 to 1,689 staff in August 2026. A further 110 G4S staff, including 78 locally employed and trained officers, are supporting prisoner escort and transport operations, hospital bed sits and local courts.
Those reforms have created the platform for the next major stage of correctional system development.
“This is not simply about building more beds. It’s an investment in safer communities, safer workplaces, better rehabilitation and a modern correctional system built for the future,” Commissioner Varley said.
“Today’s decision is the most significant step in modernising NT Corrections in a generation – delivering a new remand centre and a new, purpose-built women’s correctional centre as part of a broader plan for safer communities and better outcomes.”
The Corrections Infrastructure Master Plan has been developed to ensure the Territory has the right capacity, in the right facilities, to meet future demand while supporting community safety, rehabilitation and reintegration.
The new Men’s Remand Centre will initially provide 850 beds, with capacity to expand to 1,200 beds. The dedicated Women’s Correctional Centre will provide 200 purpose-built beds designed around safety, rehabilitation, family connection and reintegration for women in custody.
With more than 40 per cent of the prisoner population on remand, the Men’s Remand Centre will be a critical system improvement. It will strengthen the Department’s ability to manage remand and sentenced prisoners separately, reduce operational pressure across the existing correctional network and support more effective case management.
The Women’s Correctional Centre will provide purpose-designed accommodation and services for women in custody, while modern facilities across the network will create safer and more efficient working environments for correctional staff.
“This plan positions the Northern Territory to have the most modern, integrated and capable corrections network in Australia.”
