Editing Silverwater Correctional Complex

{{Short description|Prison in New South Wales, Australia}}
{{about|the correctional centre|the conservation area|Silverwater Prison Complex Conservation Area}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox prison
|prison_name   = Silverwater Correctional Complex
|image         = Silverwater Correctional Complex.jpg
|caption       = Entrance to the Silverwater Correctional Complex
|location      = [[Silverwater, New South Wales|Silverwater]], [[New South Wales]]
|status        = Operational
|classification= Maximum, minimum (male and female)
|capacity      = {{bulleted list|xxx (SCC)|200 (SWCC)|900 (MRRC)|xxx (DdLCC)}}
|opened        = {{bulleted list|1970 (SWCC)|1997 (MRRC)}}
|closed        =
|managed_by    = [[Corrective Services NSW]]
|coordinates   = {{coord|33|49|51.5|S|151|3|27.6|E|type:landmark_region:AU-NSW|display=inline,title}}
|mapframe-caption = Location of Silverwater Correctional Complex in Sydney
|mapframe-zoom = 9
}}
The '''Silverwater Correctional Complex''', an Australian [[prison|maximum and minimum security prison]] complex for males and females, is located in [[Silverwater, New South Wales|Silverwater]], {{convert|21|km|mi|abbr=on}} west of the [[Sydney central business district]] in [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]]. The complex is operated by [[Corrective Services NSW]], an agency of the [[Government of New South Wales|New South Wales Government]] [[Department of Communities and Justice]].

The complex comprises four separate facilities including Silverwater Correctional Centre (a minimum security prison for males); Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre (a maximum security institution for women and the major reception centre for female offenders in NSW); the Metropolitan Remand & Reception Centre (a maximum security correctional facility for males); and the Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre (a minimum security correctional centre for males).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://correctiveservices.nsw.gov.au/offender-management/correctional-centres/silverwater |title=Silverwater Correctional Complex |work=Correctional Centres |publisher=Corrective Services NSW |date= |access-date=5 March 2012 }}</ref>

The complex accepts prisoners charged and convicted under both New South Wales and Commonwealth legislation, and serves as a reception prison for inmates on [[Remand (detention)|remand]] or pending [[prison#Security levels|classification]].

==Silverwater Correctional Centre==
'''Silverwater Correctional Centre''', an Australian minimum security facility for males is located within the complex.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#silverwater |title=New South Wales correctional facilities: Silverwater Correctional Centre |work=Australian correctional agencies and facilities |publisher=Australian Government: Australian Institute of Criminology |date=23 August 2011 |access-date=5 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324174015/http://aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#silverwater |archive-date=24 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

===Notable prisoners===
<!--please provide reliable references to avoid potentially libelous misinformation. Please sort A-Z by family name-->
*[[Sef Gonzales]]{{spaced ndash}} Filipino Australian convicted of murdering his parents and sister.
*[[Robert Hughes (Australian actor)|Robert Hughes]]{{spaced ndash}}an Australian actor convicted of sexual assaults on then minors during filming of the hit Australian TV sitcom ''[[Hey Dad...!]]''
*[[Chris Munce]]{{spaced ndash}}convicted of fixing during a horse racing meeting in Hong Kong.
*[[René Rivkin]]{{spaced ndash}}(1944–2005)&nbsp;[[stockbroker]] and businessman, sentenced to [[periodic detention]] due to ill health.{{why|date=November 2021}}
* [[Eddie Obeid]]{{spaced ndash}}a former NSW politician convicted of [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]] and [[misconduct in public office]].  He was ordered to hand himself in in October 2021. His son will join him in jail too.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/eddie-obeid-arrives-at-prison-to-begin-jail-term-for-crooked-coal-deal-20211023-p592i9.html| title = Eddie Obeid arrives in prison| date = 23 October 2021}}</ref>
* [[Salim Mehajer]]{{spaced ndash}}a former property developer and [[Deputy mayor|Deputy Mayor]] of [[Auburn City Council]] who was imprisoned at Silverwater for [[fraud]] charges.

==Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre==
The '''Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre''' (formerly known as the '''Mulawa Correctional Centre'''), an Australian maximum security facility for females is located within the complex. The centre is divided into twelve living units, a protection/segregation area, an induction unit, a hospital annexe, and provides accommodation for both sentenced and unsentenced inmates and various special program units.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#mulawa |title=New South Wales correctional facilities: Mulawa Correctional Centre |work=Australian correctional agencies and facilities |publisher=Australian Government: Australian Institute of Criminology |date=23 August 2011 |access-date=5 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324174015/http://aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#mulawa |archive-date=24 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The facility opened in 1970 as the old women's prison at [[Long Bay Correctional Centre|Long Bay]] was converted into a medium security facility for men.<ref name=unsw/>

[[Fraud]] is the most common reason for imprisonment.{{citation needed|date=March 2012}} Inmates are eligible to study for national recognised qualifications including vocation and [[TAFE]] courses.<ref>[http://www.correctiveservices.nsw.gov.au/offender-management/correctional-centres/silverwater_womaens NSW Government, Corrective Services, Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115103441/http://www.correctiveservices.nsw.gov.au/offender-management/correctional-centres/silverwater_womaens |date=2010-11-15 }}.  Retrieved on 10 October 2012.</ref>

In the 2010 New South Wales state budget, the prison was allocated $200,000 for a new video conferencing system.<ref name="npp">{{Cite news |url=http://www.crn.com.au/News/214443,nsw-police-and-prisons-get-it-budget-boost.aspx |title=NSW Police and prisons get IT budget boost |author=Brett Winterford |access-date=10 October 2012 |date=9 June 2010 |work=CRN |publisher=Haymarket Media }}</ref>

===Notable prisoners===
<!--please provide reliable references to avoid potentially libelous misinformation-->
* [[Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton|Lindy Chamberlain]]<ref name="LinderTrialCommentary">{{cite web |author=Linder, Douglas O |url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/chamberlain/chamberlainaccount.html |title=The Trial of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain: "The Dingo Trial" A Trial Commentary |publisher=University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School |year=1995–2011 |access-date= }}</ref><ref name="Lindy">{{cite web |url=http://www.lindychamberlain.com/content/story/timeline |work=Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton |title=The Story: Timeline of events |access-date=25 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211192216/http://www.lindychamberlain.com/content/story/timeline |archive-date=11 February 2012 }}</ref>{{spaced ndash}}New Zealand-born Australian convicted and later acquitted of murdering her 9-week-old daughter [[Azaria Chamberlain disappearance|Azaria]]; Chamberlain gave birth to another child of her husband [[Michael Chamberlain]] while in custody; she was held at Silverwater (then Mulawa Women's Prison), then transferred to [[Berrima Correctional Centre]]; incarcerated from 29 October 1982 to 7 February 1986.
* [[Violet Coco]]{{spaced ndash}}climate activist with 15{{nbsp}}month sentence for blocking one lane of the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]] in December 2022.
* [[Kathleen Folbigg]]{{spaced ndash}}convicted of the murders of her 3 infant children; incarcerated in 2003 and pardoned in 2023
* [[Maddison Hall]]{{spaced ndash}}convicted of the murder of hitchhiker Lyn Saunders.
* [[Katherine Knight]]{{spaced ndash}}convicted of the murder of de facto husband John Price.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/queen-bee-cannibal-killer-katherine-knights-life-in-prison-where-shes-known-as-the-nanna/news-story/e6f5e013f7be2c6328eb40029e0715b2|title=Meet the 'Queen Bee' of Australian prison|newspaper=News.com.au|date=21 July 2017|last1=Sutton|first1=Candace}}</ref>
* [[Theresa Lawson]]{{spaced ndash}}(1951–2014) convicted of the largest fraud in NSW history.
* [[Rachel Pfitnzer]] – convicted of murdering her son [[Murder of Dean Shillingsworth|Dean Shillingsworth]].
* [[Sandra Willson]] – transferred to Mulawa Detention Centre from Parramatta Psychiatric Centre in 1970, after being declared not guilty on ground of insanity for the 1959 murder of a taxi driver, released in 1977 following protests on her behalf by the Women Behind Bars activist group.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 February 1977 |title=Willson to appear at jail inquiry |pages=12 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald-17-feb-1977-t/136755169/ |access-date=14 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=19 February 1977 |title=Sandra Willson offered partial freedom. |pages=4 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/123125397/?clipping_id=136756426 |access-date=14 December 2023}}</ref>

==Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre==
The '''Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre''' (MRRC), an Australian maximum security facility for males is located within the complex. The prison opened in 1997, and has a capacity of 900 inmates. It is the largest single correctional centre in Australia.<ref name=unsw>{{cite web |title=Key moments in Penal Culture in NSW 1970 – present |work=The Australian Prisons Project |publisher=The University of New South Wales |url=http://www.app.unsw.edu.au/section-3-prisons-4 |year=2010 |access-date=5 March 2012 |archive-date=9 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409150217/http://www.app.unsw.edu.au/section-3-prisons-4 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The majority of inmates are unconvicted or unsentenced.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#mrrc |title=New South Wales correctional facilities: Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre |work=Australian correctional agencies and facilities |publisher=Australian Government: Australian Institute of Criminology |date=23 August 2011 |access-date=5 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324174015/http://aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#mrrc |archive-date=24 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In March, 1999, Russian Australian librarian [[Lucy Dudko]] hired a helicopter supposedly to check out the upcoming Olympic site in Sydney. Using a gun, she forced pilot, Tim Joyce, to land within the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre grounds. Waiting was her partner [[John Killick (Australian criminal)|John Killick]], who was serving 28 years for armed robberies. He jumped in the helicopter making an escape while being fired on by guards and cheered on by inmates.<ref name="smh">{{cite news |title=Mastermind of helicopter jailbreak freed early |agency=AAP |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mastermind-of-helicopter-jailbreak-freed-early/2006/05/08/1146940478180.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=9 May 2006 |access-date=4 November 2011}}</ref> They landed in a park where Killick hijacked a taxi at gunpoint. The two were able to elude authorities for six weeks before being arrested at the Bass Hill Tourist Park.<ref name="smh" />

In 2004, the [[Independent Commission Against Corruption (New South Wales)|Independent Commission Against Corruption]] conducted an investigation at the prison which concluded that mobile phones were becoming a significant security threat in Australian correctional facilities.<ref name="mpt">{{Cite news |url=https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/networking/mobile-phone-threat-in-australian-correctional-facilities/ |title=Mobile phone threat in Australian correctional facilities |author=Abby Dinham |access-date=10 October 2012 |date=3 September 2004 |work=ZDNet |publisher=CBS Interactive }}</ref>

In April 2012, the facility was inundated with members of [[outlaw motorcycle club]]s.  Segregation between members of the same gangs is enforced in an effort to break member ties.<ref name="tcas">{{Cite news |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-news/these-cells-are-for-drive-by-shooters/story-e6freuzi-1226335253536 |title=These cells at Silverwater jail are for drive-by shooters |author=Linda Silmalis |access-date=10 October 2012 |date=22 April 2012 |newspaper= The Sunday Telegraph |publisher=News Limited }}</ref>

===Notable prisoners===
<!--please provide reliable references to avoid potentially libelous misinformation-->
*[[Rodney Adler]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1345646.htm |title=Adler jailed for HIH fiasco |author=Alberici, Emma |date=14 April 2005 |work=The 7.30 Report |format=transcript |access-date=5 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bad-boy Rodney sent to his room |author1=Saville, Margot |author2=Kennedy, Les |date=15 April 2005 |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Badboy-Rodney-sent-to-his-room/2005/04/14/1113251742854.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=5 March 2012 }}</ref>{{spaced ndash}}disgraced former director of [[HIH Insurance]] and businessman.
*[[Hew Raymond Griffiths]]{{spaced ndash}}British-born Australian alleged software pirate, before his extradition to the US.
*[[Man Haron Monis]]{{spaced ndash}}(1964–2014) Iranian-born Australian; convicted "hate mail" campaigner against the families of dead soldiers, faced numerous charges of being an accessory to murder and sexual assault. Perpetrator of the [[2014 Sydney hostage crisis|2014 Sydney Siege]], shot dead by New South Wales Police Force Tactical Operations Unit.
*[[Phuong Ngo]]{{spaced ndash}}Vietnamese Australian politician and businessman convicted of ordering the 1994 killing of Australian NSW state MP [[John Newman (Australian politician)|John Newman]].
*[[Dragan Vasiljković]]{{spaced ndash}}(aka Captain Dragan and Daniel Snedden), former Serbian paramilitary commander and alleged war criminal.
*[[Danushka Gunathilaka]], Sri Lankan cricketer

==Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre==
The '''Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre''', an Australian minimum security work release centre for males, is located within the complex.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#dawn |title=New South Wales correctional facilities: Dawn de Loas Correctional Centre |work=Australian correctional agencies and facilities |publisher=Australian Government: Australian Institute of Criminology |date=23 August 2011 |access-date=5 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324174015/http://aic.gov.au/criminal_justice_system/corrections/facilities/nsw.aspx#dawn |archive-date=24 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Major incidents==

In March 1999, inmate [[John Killick (Australian criminal)|John Killick]] escaped Silverwater Prison via a helicopter that had been hijacked by his partner, [[Lucy Dudko]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cole |first=David |date=February 20, 2019 |title='I deserved to go to jail': Bank robber John Killick on a life of crime |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-deserved-to-go-to-jail-bank-robber-john-killick-on-a-life-of-crime-20190220-p50yyz.html }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Killick |first=John |title=The Last Escape |publisher=New Holland |year=2017 |pages=303–318}}</ref>

In March 2021, one of the staff working at the jail died after shooting himself just moments after driving a prison van.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://expressdigest.com/dramatic-scenes-as-a-prison-guard-shoots-himself-dead-at-a-notorious-sydney-prison/|title = Dramatic scenes as a prison guard shoots himself dead at a notorious Sydney prison &#124; Express Digest|date = 3 March 2021}}</ref>

In October 2021, a former prison guard who used to work at Silverwater was sentenced to jail for assault. Before this she was punished for having inappropriate contact with a prisoner at the jail.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/former-prison-guard-melissa-goodwin-charged-with-biting-rebels-bikie-ex-boyfriend/015852de-a7fb-4981-b18e-e4a8efa246d9|title = Former prison guard charged with biting her Rebels bikie ex-boyfriend during a fight}}</ref>

==See also==
{{stack|{{Portal|New South Wales|Law}}}}
* [[Newington House]]
*[[Silverwater Prison Complex Conservation Area]]
*[[Punishment in Australia]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{NewSouthWalesPrisons}}

[[Category:Prisons in Sydney]]
[[Category:1970 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Walter Liberty Vernon buildings in Sydney]]
[[Category:Silverwater, New South Wales]]