Corrective Services NSW top officers and a brass band rolled out the fanfare on Monday for a ceremonial opening of Cessnock Correctional Centre's newest minimum-security wing.
But an Aboriginal death in custody just the day before at the nearby Shortland correctional unit cast a sombre note over the unveiling of the 240-bed facility, attended by scores of dignitaries.
Prison chaplain Reverend Di Langham said the death of the 26-year-old man on Sunday would be a heavy loss for the community.
"It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that yesterday I was called into Shortland to another Aboriginal death in custody," Reverend Langham said.
"A 26-year-old man, another of our young men, has taken his own life.
Reverend Langham, a Boandik/Barkindji woman, welcomed the Minister for Corrections Anthony Roberts to the prison, but urged those present to consider the importance of the jail's Indigenous inmates.
"I would like to remind everyone here, as I remind the Aboriginal men in this centre, that these men are our future elders," Reverend Langham said.
"Whatever they have done and however they have been treated, the way they respond to their time in here, will be the way our future elders, will be moulded."
Reverend Langham said there was a disproportionate number of Indigenous people in prisons compared to the general population.
The 26-year-old man who died on Sunday was found unresponsive in his cell just before 7:00am.
Mr Roberts was unable to comment on the death as the matter is before the coroner.
Corrective Services and NSW Police are investigating the incident and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
At the time of publication data showed there were 481 First Nations deaths in custody since the royal commission findings were released in 1991.
Last month, Corrective Services NSW said it had launched a review into Aboriginal deaths in custody over the past decade.
Training for a law-abiding life
Mr Roberts said the new 240-bed unit, in operation through the COVID-19 lockdown, had a focus on employment and training to help inmates prepare for a law-abiding life outside prison.
"We provide a number of opportunities in getting tickets from TAFE," Mr Roberts said.
"We work closely with businesses to ensure inmates are getting those certificates that are sought after, when they leave prison, to make sure that they've got a better chance of getting a job and reintegrating into the community."
An inmate at the facility, Nick, said the textiles work was rewarding.
"It is compared to sitting in a cell and doing nothing," he said.
"You feel like you've sort of achieved something and it helps the weeks pass."
Editor's note (November 9, 2021): An earlier version of this article contained figures relating to incarceration rates that could not be verified by the ABC.
