September 2009
Junee sets pace on environment
Junee Correctional Centre has become the first prison in Australia – and one of the first in the world – to be globally recognised for its commitment to the environment.
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has awarded Junee with an International Certification of Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) for its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.
Driven by staff and inmates Junee has implemented a number of measures to protect the environment including establishing an Environmental Awareness Program to educate everyone at the centre and the local community about reducing their use of electricity, water and gas.
Another achievement is that the centre now recycles enough cardboard to save 1,768 trees every year. It has also reduced its annual gas consumption by five per cent since installing 16 new hot water heaters. The centre has also planted drought resistant vegetation and installed rainwater tanks to offset its water usage.
To ensure the sustainability initiatives are promoted throughout the centre, Junee has produced colourful posters that set specific targets and encourage staff and inmates to become “supporters of the environment”.
The ISO has praised the centre for these initiatives and it will monitor Junee’s efforts every six months to ensure it meets and continues to improve on these standards.
The managing director of The GEO Group Australia, Pieter Bezuidenhout, said it was the staff and inmates who provided the impetus for the environmental improvements by together – and with the support of management – setting targets and ensuring there was plenty of action to reach them.
“The inmates have been particularly supportive and are very positive about working for the benefit of the local community and on a broader scale the planet in general,” he said.“This program is playing an important role in their rehabilitation and preparing them to re-enter society.”
“We used the NSW Department of Corrective Services’ Environmental Management Plan as a guide to research, develop and implement systems and processes for the environmental initiatives we have undertaken.”
Both Arthur Gorrie and Fulham correctional centres have followed Junee and recently secured the same ISO 14001 accreditation. At the different GEO centres there are numerous sustainability initiatives occurring and many more are being planned.
At Fulham, apart from an extensive campaign to collect and store waste water, the off cuts from the timber furniture the inmates manufacture are now being turned into ornate cutting boards. This simple action has reduced the amount of timber waste being collected from the centre each month.
One of the programs with which Arthur Gorrie is involved includes an extensive planting of native trees as part of a campaign to save endangered local koalas.
“Running correctional centres means we are managing public assets and it’s essential from a sustainability perspective that we use the resources at these centres as effectively as possible,” Mr. Bezuidenhout said.
The bird men of Fulham
Fulham Correctional Centre and the local Maffra and District Landcare Network have combined to help protect native wildlife by building nest boxes. Being sold for $2, they are available for people to install on their farm, backyard or in a public reserve to create a home for native animals and birds.
Nest boxes are important for quickly creating wildlife habitats as natural tree hollows can take more than 100 years to develop. Many species of wildlife cannot breed unless there are enough tree hollows in the local area.
Prisoners at Fulham have been building 21 different types of nest boxes — ranging from a tiny bat box to a giant owl nesting box.
Fulham’s industry manager Ian Riley said the prisoners were learning new work skills that contributed to their personal development and rehabilitation in preparation for their release. “They also gain in self esteem knowing that they have not only given something back to the community but to the care and welfare of the wildlife in the local area,” he said.
Key management roles filled
The GEO Group Australia has filled two key management roles in recent months with Walker Nuku Manaena accepting the position of general manager at Junee Correctional Centre and Jill Carson appointed general manager of Pacific Shores Healthcare.
For Walker the role is a very familiar one as Junee is the sixth correctional centre the New Zealander has managed. He started working for New Zealand Corrections as a cadet prison officer in 1974 and became a prison manager 20 years later.
Earlier this year he felt the need to work in an environment where innovation is seen as essential and readily accepted the Junee position when it was offered to him.
“The GEO philosophy allows considerable scope for management to use initiative, to think outside of the square and try things less likely to be approved within the public prison setting,” Walker said.
“My immediate aim is to ensure that the centre get the basics right and gets them right every time. That includes musters, escorts, staff dealing with incidents before they get out of hand and proactively resolving issues with inmates. Once we achieve that goal and obtain a certain level of confidence in our services I will work more strategically and begin to introduce innovations.”
Walker is of Maori descent from the Ngati Kahungunu and Tuwharetoa iwi (tribe). He has a very supportive partner Janine, three adult children and five grandchildren.
Jill Carson is new to corrective services and joins GEO with a strong nursing management background in the corporate, not for profit and government sectors.
As well as an extensive clinical and healthcare compliance background, Jill has business qualifications in change management and is looking forward to the challenges of working in corrections. With 120 employees over nine sites Jill believes her first task is to ensure her staff have the skill base to deliver appropriate care.
“During the first six months my emphasis will be on quality of service and compliance. At the same time I will be identifying any gaps within PSH and responding accordingly,” she said. “Then the challenge will be to grow the business, quite possibly outside the GEO group, but always in line with GEO’s business philosophy.”
Visiting the various PSH sites Jill has been highly impressed by the commitment of staff. “Correctional facilities are high pressure workplaces with unique demands but seeing the dedication of staff has been very rewarding,” she said.
For the past decade Jill was chief executive of Church of Christ Community Care for Victoria and Tasmania, which supports people with special needs. Previously she specialised in change management within the health sector and also worked for the Victorian Government’s Department of Health following earlier nursing training at Prince Henry’s Hospital.
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