Peter Gutwein,Premier
The safety of staff, prisoners and the community remains a top priority for the Tasmanian Liberal Government, and we continue to recruit and train Correctional Officers as fast as we can to alleviate challenges within our prison system.
As part of this ongoing commitment, 15 new recruits have begun training this week to join the ranks of the Tasmania Prison Service.
The recruits will undertake a comprehensive 10 week full-time training program which combines classroom-based learning, practical activities and job placements in order to expose them to all aspects of the Correctional Officer role.
The role of a Correctional Officer is a challenging but rewarding one, and I congratulate the new recruits and wish them all the best in their training and their future career.
We have invested significantly since coming to Government, and this latest recruit school comes on top of more than 200 extra Correctional Officers who have been recruited into the prison system since 2016, including 79 in 2020 alone despite COVID-19.
We have also commenced an intensive recruitment campaign nationally to bolster the number of Correctional Officers within the TPS's ranks, with successful applicants to start training later this year before starting work in early 2022.
I encourage anyone interested to jump online and visit www.justice.tas.gov.au/prisonservice/careers to learn more.
We will continue doing all we can to ensure the safety of everyone within our prison system as part of our strong commitment to providing a safe and secure environment for both staff and prisoners.
