Silverwater Correctional Complex

The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, 21 kilometres (13 mi) west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Attorney General and Justice, of the Government of New South Wales.

The complex comprises four separate facilities including Silverwater Correctional Centre (a minimum security prison for males); Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre (a maximum security institution for women and the major reception centre for female offenders in NSW); the Metropolitan Remand & Reception Centre (a maximum security correctional facility for males); and the Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre (a minimum security correctional centre for males).^[1]

The complex accepts prisoners charged and convicted under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation and serves as a reception prison for inmates on remand or pending classification.

Silverwater Correctional Centre

Silverwater Correctional Centre, an Australian minimum security facility for males is located within the complex.^[2]

Notable prisoners

• Sef Gonzales – convicted of murdering his parents and sister.
• Tony Hines – a standover man shot dead by a member of the Bra Boys.
• Robert Hughes – a former Australian actor convicted of indecent assault during filming of the hit Australian TV sitcom Hey Dad...!
• Chris Munce – convicted of fixing during a horse racing meeting in Hong Kong.
• René Rivkin – (1944-2005) stockbroker and businessman, sentenced to periodic detention due to ill health.

Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre

The Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre (formerly known as the Mulawa Correctional Centre), an Australian maximum security facility for females is located within the complex. The Centre is divided into twelve living units, a protection/segregation area, an induction unit, a hospital annexe, and provides accommodation for both sentenced and unsentenced inmates and various special program units.^[3] The facility opened in 1970 as the old women's prison at Long Bay was converted into a medium security facility for men.^[4]

Fraud is the most common reason for imprisonment. Inmates are eligible to study for national recognised qualifications including vocation and TAFE courses.^[5]

In the 2010 New South Wales state budget, the prison was allocated $200,000 for a new video conferencing system.^[6]

Notable prisoners

• Lindy Chamberlain^[7][8] – New Zealand-born Australian convicted and later acquitted of murdering her 9-week old daughter Azaria; Chamberlain gave birth to another child of her husband Michael Chamberlain while in custody; she was held at Silverwater (then Mulawa Women's Prison), then transferred to Berrimah Prison; incarcerated from 29 October 1982 to 7 February 1986.
• Katherine Knight – convicted of the murder of de-facto husband John Price
• Kathleen Folbigg – convicted of the murders of her 3 infant children
• Theresa Lawson – convicted of the largest fraud in NSW history.

Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre

The Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre (MRRC), an Australian maximum security facility for males is located within the complex. The prison opened in 1997, and has a capacity of 900 inmates. It is the largest single correctional centre in Australia.^[4] The majority of inmates are unconvicted or unsentenced.^[9]

In March, 1999, librarian Lucy Dudko hired a helicopter supposedly to check out the upcoming Olympic site in Sydney. Using a gun, she forced pilot, Tim Joyce, to land within the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre grounds. Waiting was John Killick, who was serving 28 years for armed robberies. He jumped in the helicopter making an escape while being fired on by guards and cheered on by inmates.^[10] They landed in a park where Killick hijacked a taxi at gunpoint. The two were able to elude authorities for six weeks before being arrested at the Bass Hill Tourist Park.^[10]

In 2004, the Independent Commission Against Corruption conducted an investigation at the prison which concluded that mobile phones were becoming a significant security threat in Australian correctional facilities.^[11]

In April 2012, the facility was inundated with members of outlaw motorcycle clubs. Segregation between members of the same gangs is enforced in an effort to break member ties.^[12]

Notable prisoners

• Rodney Adler^[13][14] – disgraced former director of HIH Insurance and businessman.
• Hew Raymond Griffiths – British-born Australian alleged software pirate, before his extradition to the US.
• Man Haron Monis – (1964-2014) convicted "hate mail" campaigner against the families of dead soldiers, faced numerous charges of being an accessory to murder and sexual assault. Perpetrator of the 2014 Sydney Siege, shot dead by federal officers.
• Phuong Ngo – South Vietnamese Australian politician and businessman convicted of ordering the 1994 killing of Australian NSW state MP John Newman.
• Dragan Vasiljković – (aka Captain Dragan and Daniel Snedden), former Serbian paramilitary commander and alleged war criminal.

Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre

The Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre, an Australian minimum security work release centre for males is located within the complex.^[15]

See also

• Punishment in Australia

References