John hollandJohn Holland

A transformative project.

Western Plains Correctional Centre

This maximum-security male prison will accommodate 1,248 prisoners and provide capacity for Victoria’s future growing prison population.

With a focus on community safety, the state-of-the-art facility will feature the highest and most stringent level of security. The new facility will improve community safety and help reduce recidivism with new health, education and recreation facilities.  

During construction the team is collaborating with local social enterprises to employ the marginalised and disadvantaged. They are also employing young workers from areas with high unemployment and procuring over 90% of materials from Australia and New Zealand.

The construction site covers an area approximately five times the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, near the existing Barwon Prison Precinct that includes Barwon Prison and Marngoneet Correctional Centre.  

The prison is designed to separately accommodate and manage the different classifications of prisoners – mainstream, protection, remand and sentenced prisoners. It will include eight prisoner communities, each with 78-bed units.

  • Customer
    Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety
  • Location
    Lara, Victoria
  • Specialisation
    Justice & corrections
  • Start
    2019
  • End
    2022
  • website
The project is expected to deliver economic benefits worth $173 million to the Greater Geelong region, including more than 900 direct jobs and several hundred indirect jobs during construction.
The construction is directing $16.3 million to social enterprises that support Australian veterans, indigenous and disadvantaged Victorians and people with a disability. 
Ten per cent of labour hours on the project are allocated to young workers including apprentices, trainees and cadets and a further 30,000 hours to Victorians living in postcode areas with high unemployment including Norlane, Corio, Whittington and Colac.
Ninety-two per cent of content used to construct the prison, including labour and materials, have been sourced locally from Australia and New Zealand with the project also aiming to maximise the use of locally milled steel.
Construction of the prison is being managed by John Holland and overseen by the Community Safety Building Authority, which delivers infrastructure on behalf of the Department of Justice and Community Safety.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

John Holland pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land on which we work and live, and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations peoples today.