Barwon Prison

Video: Views of entrance to Barwon Prison, followed by two prison officers walking and talking in the grounds.

Colin, General Manager, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Our key role as prison officers at Barwon and across the precinct, is to provide a case management model, that really works hard to support the individual needs of prisoners.”

“We work very hard with our prisoner group to develop goals and a plan for them to move forward, both into other prisons throughout the state, as well as a plan for them to move back into the community, and successfully settle.”

Video: Prison officer sitting at desk, talking to prisoner, prisoner checking out books in the library

“The prison is split into a number of separate specialist units across the site. So we have our mainstream units, as well as our high security and our management units.

Video: Prison officer conducting a search of a person using a hand-held body scanner.

Keith, Supervisor, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“We house very complex, maximum security, high risk type offenders.”

Colin, General Manager, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“And also long-term management prisoners, that are going to be here for a particularly long periods of time.

Video: Prison cell doors, close-up of a door being locked.

Tracey, Operations Manager, Piper Unit, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Piper Unit accommodates men who are un-convicted, that have finished their sentence. So, they are here because they pose significant risk to the community if they were released.”

Faith, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“We work together with non-custodial officers such as psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers.”

Euan, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“We promote that pro-social behaviour with all of our interactions. Sometimes that is a tough discussion you might have with a prisoner that he's not had before with anybody.”

Video: Two prison officers walking and talking with a prisoner in the grounds.

Faith, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“We're here to be role models and help them to see that hey, there is a better way to handle things.”

Vicki, Senior Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Mainstream prisoners who are sentenced must work. We do have different industries; we have laundry, we have the kitchen, engineering and welding. We also have our horticulture division.”

Video: Prisoners working in the laundry, engineering workshop and a greenhouse.

Colin, General Manager, H.M. Prison Barwon:

It's about developing those skills that they’ll be able to utilise when they get back into the community.”

“Prison officers come from all different and diverse backgrounds. We see people from the armed forces, we see people as tradies.

Vicki, Senior Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Pilots, baristas to service station attendants and they all bring something really valuable.”

Colin, General Manager, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“You have to be a strong communicator, like working in a team, likes to be working shift work, able to build close relationships with people in short periods of time, to provide those good outcomes.”

Video: Prison officers talking with one another and  with prisoner on a basketball court.

Cate, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Gone are the days where we relied on the big, burly prison officers that would come in to resolve an issue. You know, there are a lot of mums here, they put on their mum’s voice - prisoners listen.

Faith, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Having a diverse background is a good advantage as a prison officer, as you are able to relate to prisoners from different backgrounds and you understand their cultural values.

Herb, Aboriginal Wellbeing, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“I am the aboriginal wellbeing officer. I support the prisoners with some of their cultural awareness journeys. I help network with other aboriginal organisations outside of Barwon as well, with the hopes of having them come in and support our aboriginal prisoners.”

Video: Australian and Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander flags.

Faith, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“In order to become a prison officer, you have to undergo 8 weeks of training and 2 weeks of placement.”

Euan, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“The professional development that is available to you is great!”

Cate, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“There is ongoing training every year within the prison.”

Keith, Supervisor, H.M. Prison Barwon:

In any situation that might come up in a prison, we are well trained and able to cope with really intense situations!

Video: Officers in central office, viewing screens and talking.

Euan, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“When there is an incident what you will see is; there will be a sea of blue.”

Vicki, Senior Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Staff respond so fast and so quick!”

Keith, Supervisor, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Never, ever will you walk alone. You will always walk with a teammate.”

Faith, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“We have dynamic security. We have cameras everywhere.”

Vicki, Senior Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“You just feel 100% safe. And you feel 100% supported.”

Colin, General Manager, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Team culture here at Barwon is very much a focus of the leadership team.”

“We’ve done a lot of work in the past around providing a safe and respectful working environment, that provides all of our staff at all levels the opportunity to grow and move forward.”

Keith, Supervisor, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Barwon do a fantastic job promoting that and promoting to support one another in all circumstances.”

Cate, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“A day in Barwon is different every day. And I think that is why the majority of people love it so much.”

Faith, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“In the morning, we are doing our radio checks, making sure we check our locks, fill out the registers, do our counts, effective pat-downs and cell searches.”

Video: Prison officers checking cells.

Euan, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“The career opportunities within Corrections Victoria are vast!”

Keith, Supervisor, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“Not only Barwon, but the whole precinct, so four prisons all around one another.”

Vicki, Senior Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“What we want is people to say Yeah, I really like this and I want to apply for this! I want to be a senior prison officer. I want to be a supervisor and I want to mentor and coach the new people that coming on board!”

Keith, Supervisor, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“The location is fantastic. You've got Geelong, its own little city if you want to be in that part of the world. If you want to live coastally, we've got beaches; Torquay, Barwon Heads.”

Video: Aerial view of Geelong, boats in the bay, road by the coast.

Euan, Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“This is a safe job to work in. It is an exciting job to work in. It does make you feel that you are contributing to the safety of the community at large. And the career opportunities that are here, are excellent.”

Vicki, Senior Prison Officer, H.M. Prison Barwon:

“I think if you're a strong communicator, you have great integrity, and you want to put back into the community and feel that you're doing something of value, this is the job for you!”

Authorised by the Department of Justice and Community Safety.