Dame Phyllis Frost Centre

Last updated

Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
Location Deer Park, Victoria
Security classMaximum Security
Capacity604 [1]
Opened15 August 1996
Managed by Corrections Victoria

Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, formerly the Deer Park Metropolitan Women's Correctional Centre (MWCC) is a maximum security women's prison located at Deer Park, Victoria, Australia. Built in 1996, it was the first privately-owned prison in Victoria, but was transferred to public ownership in 2000 and is now run by Corrections Victoria. It also houses medium security and all protection prisoners.

Contents

History

Deer Park Metropolitan Women's Correctional Centre (MWCC) was built in 1996 as the first privately designed, financed and operated prison in Victoria. The prison facility was opened on 15 August 1996 and received its first prisoners that same month, many of whom had been transferred from Fairlea Women's Prison. [2] [3] The prison was the subject of intense scrutiny from its opening, as a result of incidents including self-harm and what the Victorian Corrections Commissioner described as "a failure to have adequate suicide prevention protocols in place". Following four years of scandals, the Government reclaimed the prison from private ownership in 2000. [4]

On 3 October 2000, the government took control of the facility and appointed an administrator under section 8F of the Corrections Act, and section 27B of the prison contract to operate the prison. On 2 November 2000, the Minister for Corrections announced the transfer of ownership and management of MWCC to the public sector. [3] [5] The centre was renamed after welfare worker and philanthropist Dame Phyllis Frost, [3] [5] who was well known for her commitment to unpopular causes, most notably helping women prisoners. As of 2008 it was Victoria's largest women's prison, holding 604 prisoners. [6] As of June 2010 it accommodated 260 prisoners. [3]

It is one of only two women's prisons in Victoria, the other being HM Prison Tarrengower. As HM Prison Tarrengower is minimum security mainstream, all other female prisoners (medium security, maximum security, and all protection prisoners) are imprisoned at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.[ citation needed ]

Notable incidents

In October 2003, male prison guard Kelvin McCann was charged with raping a mentally ill prisoner who was found to be pregnant when she was transferred to the Thomas Embling Hospital, a secured psychiatric hospital, and DNA tests revealed he was the father. The guard pleaded not guilty to the charges. [7]

In December 2007, a Department of Justice and Regulation office filing cabinet which was being moved to new offices was mistakenly discarded at a second-hand furniture shop and bought by a Point Cook couple who discovered abandoned documents in the cabinet. After lengthy court action, documents from the filing cabinet were released and revealed allegations of corruption and sexual abuse at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. [8]

In November 2009, it was reported in the media that heroin and methamphetamine were "readily available" in the jail and that there had been a large increase in drug overdoses and suicide attempts among inmates at the prison. The acting operations manager was also accused of changing rosters so as to have sex with a female prison officer, including once at the jail. [9]

Response to the death of an Aboriginal woman in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre Stop Black Deaths in Custody - Snap Action (51721329078).jpg
Response to the death of an Aboriginal woman in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre

In March 2018, the body of a male prison officer was found. His death was not being treated as suspicious. [10] [11]

In November 2021, an Indigenous woman held prisoner was transferred to Sunshine Hospital, where she later died. [12]

Notable prisoners

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deer Park, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Deer Park is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km (11 mi) west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Brimbank local government area. Deer Park recorded a population of 18,145 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison Pentridge</span> Prison in Victoria, Australia

HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison that was first established in 1851 in Coburg, Victoria. The first prisoners arrived in 1851. The prison officially closed on 1 May 1997.

Hopkins Correctional Centre is an Australian medium security protection prison for males, located in Ararat, Victoria, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Melbourne. The centre is operated by Corrections Victoria, part of the Department of Justice of the Victorian Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison Barwon</span> Maximum security prison in Lara, Victoria, Australia

HM Prison Barwon or informally Barwon Prison, an Australian high risk and maximum security prison for males, is located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the township of Lara, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The facility is operated by Corrections Victoria. The prison provides accommodation and services for remand and sentenced prisoners detained under Victorian and Federal legislation.

HM Prison Fairlea was an Australian female prison located on Yarra Bend Road in the suburb of Fairfield, Victoria, Australia. The first all-female prison in Victoria, it was built on the site of the Yarra Bend Asylum, with remnants of the walls and gates being used in the layout of the prison. In 1982 a deliberately lit fire led to the deaths of three inmates. The rebuilt and expanded prison reopened in 1986. After closing in 1996 due to privatisation of sections of the prison system, Fairlea was demolished and the site converted to parkland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Bay Correctional Centre</span> Building

The Long Bay Correctional Complex, commonly called Long Bay, is a correctional facility comprising a heritage-listed maximum and minimum security prison for males and females and a hospital to treat prisoners, psychiatric cases and remandees, located in Malabar, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The complex is located approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of the Sydney CBD and is contained within a 32-hectare (79-acre) site. The facility is operated by Corrective Services New South Wales, a department administered by the Government of New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goulburn Correctional Centre</span> Building

The Goulburn Correctional Centre, is an Australian supermaximum security prison for males. It is located in Goulburn, New South Wales, three kilometres north-east of the central business district. The facility is operated by Corrective Services NSW. The Complex accepts prisoners charged and convicted under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation and serves as a reception prison for Southern New South Wales, and, in some cases, for inmates from the Australian Capital Territory.

Lithgow Correctional Centre is a prison near Lithgow, Australia, operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the New South Wales state government. The prison houses sentenced male inmates with a maximum security classification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silverwater Correctional Complex</span> Prison in New South Wales, Australia

The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, 21 km (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 New South Wales Government Department of Communities and Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorian Women's Football League</span> Australian rules football league for women

The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) was the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 47 clubs from Victoria, Australia across seven divisions with a total of over 1,000 players.

Corrections Victoria is part of the Department of Justice and Community Safety in the Victorian Government, and is responsible for the provision of custodial and community-based services as an important element of the criminal justice system in the state of Victoria, Australia. In March 2018, Dr Emma Cassar was announced as the new Commissioner of Corrections Victoria to commence in June 2018.

The Metropolitan Remand Centre is an Australian prison located at Ravenhall, Victoria, approximately 20 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD on the Western Freeway. The prison is a maximum security remand facility which opened in April 2006 and is operated by the Victorian Department of Justice and Regulation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Minogue</span> Australian murderer

Craig William John Minogue is an Australian convicted murderer responsible for the 1986 bombing of the Russell Street Police Headquarters in Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Minogue was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 30 years. In 2012, Minogue was awarded his PhD in applied ethics, human and social services by La Trobe University. The thesis, entitled "Seeing who's who: identifying a violently oppositional sense of self and other which is emerging from an immoral discourse of punishment and revenge" is not available to the public for safety reasons. Access is restricted until November 2027.

The Melbourne Custody Centre is the main reception facility in Melbourne, Australia for people who have been arrested by police. The centre is located underneath the Melbourne Magistrates' Court and, utilised during the day to hold prisoners who will be attending hearings at the Magistrates, County or Supreme Courts. When the majority of the prisoners who are there during the day have been transported back to their respective facilities, the Victoria Police will, during the evening and night, hold people at the Custody centre when they have been arrested for being "Drunk in a Public Place".

Dame Phyllis Irene Frost was an Australian welfare worker and philanthropist, known for her commitment to causes, such as helping prisoners. She chaired the Victorian Women's Prisons Council for many years, established the Keep Australia Beautiful movement, worked for Freedom from Hunger and raised millions of dollars for charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarra Bend Asylum</span> Former hospital in Victoria, Australia

Yarra Bend Asylum was the first permanent institution established in Victoria that was devoted to the treatment of the mentally ill. It opened in 1848 as a ward of the Asylum at Tarban Creek in New South Wales. It was not officially called Yarra Bend Asylum until July 1851 when the Port Phillip District separated from the Colony of New South Wales. Prior to the establishment of Yarra Bend, lunatic patients had been kept in the District's gaols. Yarra Bend was proclaimed an Asylum under the provisions of the Lunacy Statute 1867 (No.309) in the Government Gazette in October 1867.

Ravenhall Correctional Centre is a medium-security male prison currently located in Ravenhall, Victoria, Australia. The prison is able to house over 1300 prisoners, and includes capacity for 75 forensic prisoners. It is Victoria's largest prison. The prison is operated by GEO Group Australia, under contract to the Victorian Government.

Jean Marion Tom AO was an Australian community worker much involved with the Country Women's Association.

References

  1. ↑ "Dame Phyllis Frost Centre".
  2. ↑ Darebin Libraries. "Fairlea Women's Prison – Yarra Bend (1856–1996)". Darebin Historical Encyclopaedia. Archived from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Prison Profiles - Dame Phyllis Frost Centre". Victorian Department of Justice. 2 July 2010. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. ↑ O'Toole, Sean (2006). The History of Australian Corrections. University of New South Wales Press. p. 211. ISBN   0868409154.
  5. 1 2 "Dame Phyllis Frost Centre". Corrections Victoria. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  6. ↑ McKenzie, Nick, "Behind the wire", The Age, 18 February 2008
  7. ↑ Moynihan, Stephen (16 September 2004). "Prison guard denies rape". The Age. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  8. ↑ "Vic: Procedures tighter after jail sex claims, prison chief says". Australian Associated Press. 12 December 2007.
  9. ↑ "Sex allegations rock women's jail". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 November 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  10. ↑ "Man's body found at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, Ravenhall". Herald Sun. 27 March 2018.
  11. ↑ "Staff receiving counselling after prison officer found dead at Victorian jail". News.com.au. 28 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "Victorian coroner to investigate Aboriginal woman's death in custody". ABC News. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  13. ↑ Buttler, Mark (15 December 2009). "Katie Peirce, daughter of Wendy Peirce and hitman Victor Peirce, found dead at home after suspected drug overdose". Herald Sun. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  14. ↑ Butler, Mark (15 December 2009). "Judy Moran angered by prison conditions". The Australian. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  15. ↑ "Failed Renate Mokbel appeal released". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  16. ↑ "Korp's lover bashed in jail". The Age. 3 July 2005. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  17. ↑ Moynihan, Stephen (19 April 2005). "Gandland soap opera plays in court". The Age. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  18. ↑ "Home". andreamohr.de.
  19. ↑ "Andrea Mohr: Mein Jet-Set-Leben im Koks-Geschäft". 2 May 2010.
  20. ↑ "ISBN 9781740667043". Archived from the original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  21. ↑ Flower, Wayne; Dennehy, Luke (25 August 2013). "Rachel Barber's parents shocked over killer Caroline Reed Robertson's chilling transformation". Herald Sun . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 November 2017.

37°46′57″S144°44′32″E / 37.78250°S 144.74222°E / -37.78250; 144.74222

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.