New men’s remand and intake centre with up to 1,200 beds and a stand-alone 200-bed purpose-built women’s facility to be built at Holtze.
Men’s centre to be delivered under a Public Private Partnership with women’s facility to be delivered by Government and operated by the Department of Corrections.
Without significant investment in new infrastructure, the system will be unable to meet minimum operational, safety and custodial requirements.
The Finocchiaro CLP Government will develop new large-scale correctional facilities in Darwin to relieve the heavy strain on the Territory’s corrections system and restore community safety.
The facilities include a dedicated men’s remand and intake centre with up to 1,200 beds and a stand-alone 200-bed purpose-built women’s facility.
The proposed facilities will be delivered on approximately 75ha of Crown Land adjacent to the existing Darwin Correctional Precinct, in line with the CLP commitment to locate all correctional facilities at Holtze.
The CLP Government plans to deliver the men’s remand and intake centre under a tried and tested Public Private Partnership with the private partner to design, finance, build, operate and maintain the facility.
The new women’s facility will be delivered by Government as a design and construct tender and operated by the Department of Corrections.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the corrections system had been abandoned by the former Labor government.
This left facilities unable to keep up with demand, with no future planning to deal with overcrowding and a chronic lack of rehabilitation, work programs and therapeutic support.
“The Territory’s correctional system has been neglected for 10 years and because of that requires major and urgent investment,” the Chief Minister said.
“The stand-alone women’s prison delivers on our commitment to have two new women’s prisons in the Territory with Alice Springs now operational.
“The fact is that you can’t put a price on community safety.”
Treasury will now move to a formal EOI process with proponents capable of delivering the project from start to operation.
This process will take 12 months with a successful proponent to be contracted by the end of 2027.
Treasurer Bill Yan said a business case has been completed and will be published as part of the expression of interest process.
“It clearly shows that we must make a long-term, permanent infrastructure investment to future-proof Corrections capability,” the Treasurer said.
“The Finocchiaro CLP Government has formed the view that the best value for the Territory is with a design, finance, build, operate and maintain model so that the financial and construction risk is borne by the proponent and Territorians will not start paying for the service until it opens.
“Territorians will have certainty of an annual price to deliver remand and intake services without any initial outlay or risk,” Treasurer Yan concluded.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Corrections Gerard Maley said the Corrections Masterplan has delivered safer streets and the new facilities are a necessary step to safeguard the system.
“Territorians pay a premium for the over-capacity at DCP and Berrimah Prison’s lifespan is only until the early 2030s,” Minister Maley said.
“Without significant investment in new infrastructure, the system will be unable to meet minimum operational, safety and custodial requirements.
“The decision to invest in a remand and intake centre will mean up to 45% of our prison population moves out of DCP into more appropriate accommodation and services, leaving sentenced prisoners to be managed at DCP and Berrimah to be closed.
“DCP will then be running at its correct capacity and the Remand and Intake Centre will deliver specialist services for people on remand including education, training, rehabilitation and therapeutic support,” the Minister for Corrections said.
Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley said raising the quality of prison facilities would boost rehabilitation outcomes for prisoners and enhance community safety, while improving staff morale, productivity and retention.
“New modern correctional infrastructure will allow the Department to manage different prisoner cohorts more effectively, support the separation of remand and sentenced prisoners, improve rehabilitation outcomes and strengthen community safety,” the Commissioner said.
“All Corrections infrastructure, no matter who it is operated by, falls under my remit and responsibility so the community can rest assured that the quality and safeguards are high.
“This is an opportunity to build a correctional system designed for the future with better infrastructure, better prison management and better outcomes for community safety.”
