Revealed: Inside one of Sydney's most notorious prisons
Sydney’s Parklea prison has been at the centre of some unwanted headlines of late, with claims that smuggling was rife inside the notorious facility.
But now, with a new multi-million dollar expansion, there are promises that everything will be different.
Its rooms – three-metres wide, 4.5-metres long – will never earn a five star rating, despite boasting garden views.
The only way you can book accommodation here is to break the law.
“If you make it too comfortable there’s no punishment, there’s no punitive nature to the prison sentence,” Minister for Corrections David Elliott said.
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Parklea Correctional Centre now has four brand new accommodation buildings, which Elliott is describing as “the future of our prison system”.
Bathrooms inside the cells mean less prisoner interaction, and guards will monitor inmates from behind thicker Perspex glass.
But Parklea’s most significant feature will be its 16 video link suites, allowing inmates to attend court just metres away from their cells.
The prison’s current operator, The GEO Group, was left embarrassed after video filmed inside Parklea went viral on social media showing prisoners with contraband items.
Just who will run the new privately-owned prison is still to be decided.
“There’s a tender process in place which will be determined relatively shortly,” Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin said.
The facility, which will house 500 maximum-security inmates, will be finished in April.
