One of Australia's largest jails has been transferred from a scandal-ridden private operator to public hands where more than 400 well-paid public sectors jobs are expected to be secured under government management.
With a capacity for more than 1500 inmates, Parklea Correctional Centre in western Sydney had been managed by the Australian arm of US-based private prisons operator MTC since 2018.
Its existing $1.4 billion contract - which ends in March 2026 - will be extended by six months to allow sufficient time for the transition to occur by October 2026, the NSW government said on Sunday.
"We've had a strong line against privatisation since we were elected two years ago and we've done it based on evidence, not based on feelings or ideology, but based on facts," Premier Chris Minns told reporters.
"When it comes to fundamental, frontline basic services, they need to be provided by NSW government employees."
"It's the best way of ensuring the taxpayers get value for money where there's not a contract in place and a middle man is looking to see how the services are interpreted."
Mir Minns also hailed "the common sense ... operating model not based on a profit motive" as a win for hundreds of essential workers in western Sydney with the creation of 400 jobs.
It is the second NSW prison to return to public ownership after Corrective Services NSW takes over the management of Junee Correctional Centre in April following a 16-month transition.
The NSW public sector is responsible for about 10,000 inmates across 31 prisons.
The premier noted the profile of inmates in custody had substantially over the past 15 years with more hardened offenders in the system.
He explained a focus on rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates into the community would be best managed by experienced government staff rather than a profit-driven private operator.
Parklea, one of Australia's most notorious prisons, has had its fair share of dangerous incidents in recent years with employees going on strike several times to ensure safe working conditions.
A parliamentary inquiry uncovered reports of guards being stabbed, gangster-run fight clubs, tobacco smuggling, an inmate found dead after being shackled to his bed and another inmate who set a fire causing $8 million in damage.
The Public Service Association welcomed the move after it had been in protracted contract negotiations with MTC, which it previously blamed for failing to protect officers at Parklea.
"Corrective Services is an integral part of the criminal justice system. It's no different to the police or the courts. It plays a pivotal role in that system," said the union's general secretary Stewart Little.
"You would not countenance for a moment privatising police or the courts. Why on earth would we do that to a correctional centre?"
MTC also runs a detention centre housing refugees on Nauru in a $2.3 billion contract with the federal government.
