Victoria’s $1bn new prison is now just a training facility

With the new prison unneeded and unused, there are calls for the Victorian government to seize an “historic opportunity” to reduce the size of the prison population.

More than 18 months since construction finished on Victoria’s $1 billion new prison, the facility is sitting empty and unneeded, and is instead being used as a high-priced training site.

The Western Plains Prison was completed in November 2022, but has remained unused in the 18 months since.

Victoria’s other prisons are still underutilised and the massive new facility has not been needed.

It cost more than $1 billion to build the prison, and the Victorian government has spent $75.5 million in the two years since to maintain the facility, despite it not being used to house any incarcerated people.

Instead, the prison is being used as a training facility for prison guards and other staff, with its costs now shielded by the state government in last week’s budget and not revealed individually.

The state’s existing prisons are far below capacity, and there has been a near-3.5% decrease in the overall prison population from last year.

According to last week’s budget documents, less than 75% of the state’s prison beds were filled in the last financial year, and only half of the female prison places were occupied. This is despite the massive new Western Plains Prison also remaining empty.

The Victorian government recently said that the $1 billion new prison is being “utilised as a high-quality training facility to onboard new corrections staff”, and that during recent bushfires 353 people being held at the Langi Kal Kal prison were briefly moved there.

In response to the budget, VACRO said that the new prison is “unnecessary” and the state government is being opaque about its plans for its future.

“At a time when occupancy figures are low and decreasing, and many people leave prison with no or inadequate support, VACRO questions whether much-needed budget savings could be achieved by closing the older prisons that must be closed for Western Plains to become operational,” VACRO said in a statement.

‘We believe that there is a historic opportunity to decrease the size of the prison system and use the savings to fund evidence-based services that support people to successfully reintegrate into their communities and stay out of the criminal justice system for good.

“We strongly urge the government to announce a plan for Western Plains and for a reconfiguration of the broader prison system that ensures people leaving prison to create new beginnings for themselves and their families, and thrive in their communities.”

The Victorian budget allocated $1.6 billion in 2024-25 for the state’s prison system, and $250.5 million for its youth prisons.