The Metropolitan Remand Centre (abbreviated and commonly referred to as MRC) is an Australian prison located at

Ravenhall, Victoria Ravenhall is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melton local government area. Ravenhall recorded a population of 2,295 at the 2021 census. An outer suburban l ...

, approximately 20 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD on the Western Freeway (

Deer Park Bypass The Western Highway is the Victorian part of the principal route linking the Australian cities of Melbourne and Adelaide, with a length of approximately of single carriageway, then of dual carriageway known as the Western Freeway. It is a pa ...

). The prison is a maximum security remand facility which opened in April 2006 and is operated by the Victorian Department of Justice and Regulation. The majority of MRC's inmates are held awaiting the outcome of their court case, some inmates have been sentenced and are waiting for appeals to be heard and a small number are sentenced prisoners transferred to free up beds at HM Melbourne Assessment Prison.

Accommodation

Accommodation consists of four 75-bed general (mainstream) units, one 100-bed protection unit (called ''Deakin''), 200 beds in various units allocated for special needs such as vulnerable or young adult prisoners and a 13-bed management unit. Two new units were built and commissioned in late 2014. The protection unit is divided into 3 areas (A, B and C) which are separated by the officer's post. Being located centrally, officers can monitor activities in each area at a glance.

Incidents

On 30 June 2015, 400 prisoners at the centre rioted, the largest riot in Victoria's history, the day before the implementation of a smoking ban across all prisons in Victoria. The prison was also overcrowded housing 918 prisoners when it was designed to house 613. Inmates attacked guards with rocks and tear gas, made makeshift weapons, broke into the Central Control Movement, lit numerous fires, damaged cell doors, damaged internal security, fire and communication panels, and rammed internal gates with vehicles. Corrections Victoria locked down all Victorian prisons. The riot was resolved after 15 hours with prisoners surrendering to the Corrections Victoria Security and Emergency Services Group (SESG) after they entered the prison supported by the

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victoria Police had over 22,300 staff, comprising over 16,700 ...

Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), and police

Air Wing In military aviation, a wing is a unit of command. In most military aviation services, a wing is a relatively large formation of planes. In Commonwealth countries a wing usually comprises three squadrons, with several wings forming a group ( ...

helicopter overhead and on the perimeter by police Special Operations Group (SOG) members with their armoured vehicle. Three staff received minor injuries and up to six prisoners were injured with the damage to the prison estimated to be between $10 to $12 million.

References

External links

Department of Justice
Metropolitan Remand Centre 2006 establishments in Australia Government buildings completed in 2006 Buildings and structures in the City of Melton {{VictoriaAU-struct-stub