Inspector's report on men's rural prison released

Inspector's report on men's rural prison released

The Palen Creek Correctional Centre inspection report prepared by the Inspector of Detention Services, was tabled by the Honourable Pat Weir MP, Speaker of the Queensland Parliament on 19 June 2025.

The centre is located at Rathdowney, approximately 100km south-west of Brisbane; it also manages work camps at Mitchell, Charleville, Dirranbandi and St George.

It is an open-campus-style rural correctional facility for men classified as being suitable for a low-security prison.

The Queensland Ombudsman, Mr Anthony Reilly, also the Inspector of Detention Services (Inspector) said its open environment is designed to maximise rehabilitation and community re-entry opportunities for male prisoners.

“It is the low-security environment, high degree of autonomy, access to meaningful activities, and desirable location that provides strong incentives for prisoners to engage in positive behaviours,” Mr Reilly said.

“Our inspection found positive practices at the centre, supporting the idea of reduced security and control for prisoners that gave them the opportunity to develop strategies and skills to support reintegration.

The report makes 27 recommendations for improvement

The report makes 27 recommendations for areas of improvement for the men’s prison, including:

• compliance with the Corrective Services Regulation 2017 requirements, such as two hours out-of-cell time when detained in the holding cell, and notification required when making safety orders
• improving access to cultural support for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people
• allowing for review and improving records of decisions to return prisoners to a secure centre in response to breaches of discipline
• that Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) should develop an easy-read version of complaint documents to improve the ability of detainees to understand and use them
• Metro South Hospital and Health Service (Metro South HHS) improving access to dental, optometry and physiotherapy services
• QCS and Metro South HHS supporting prisoners to receive outpatient treatment at hospitals closer to the prison.

Community service

“In 2021-22, the work camps (Mitchell, Charleville, Dirranbandi and St George) contributed to local communities by assisting 141 community organisations. During this period, prisoners on the Work Camp Program throughout Queensland completed 144,223 hours of community service, the equivalent of $4 million in labour support for regional Queensland.

“Work camps ensure the completion of valued community projects, especially for the people of regional and rural Queensland, that would not otherwise be completed due to labour shortages.”