Lotus Glen Correctional Centre is an Australian

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

facility located 14 km south of

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters'' ...

and 20 km north of Atherton in the locality of Arriga in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

. Lotus Glen provides a correctional service for high, medium, low and open classification inmates, including a Prison Farm with a capacity for 115 "open security" inmates.

Population

Lotus Glen's "catchment area" for its inmate population includes

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, The Cape York Region, The Torres Strait Islands and other isolated communities. The centre has a total capacity of 498 (398 within the secure unit and 100 at the centre's farm). Generally, 60% - 70% of the population of the centre are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons.

Facilities

The centre is used as a remand and reception facility and provides the programs necessary to induct both first time inmates and repeat offenders into the correctional environment. The facility runs work programs in the fields of both farming and industry, providing useful skills to the inmates in preparation for their release. Facilities are being expanded to house 300 secure cells and 24 low-security farm beds at a cost of A$445 million. The new buildings have been built outside the existing secure area and are expected to be completed by December 2011.

Programs

Cultural programs are conducted at Lotus Glen in response to the centre's high Indigenous population. Specialist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff including correctional officers are employed to meet the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners. These needs are met through cultural programs, Elder visits, regular community visits, and ensuring that family ties are maintained. The facility also runs a

prison farm A prison farm (also known as a penal farm) is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts are forced to work on a farm legally and illegally (in the wide sense of a productive unit), usually for manual labor, largely in the open air ...

for low and open security inmates. Although not necessarily put to "hard labour" the inmates are expected to work the farms, allowing them time to develop skills and escape the daily routine of the prison. In 2017, due to a new program of medication, Lotus Glen became Australia's first Hepatitis C-free prison.

References

{{coord, 17, 06, 47, S, 145, 21, 50, E, type:landmark_region:AU-QLD, display=title 1989 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in Far North Queensland Prisons in Queensland Maximum security prisons in Australia

Population

Facilities

Programs

See also

References