Community
15 June, 2026
Just 5000 more signatures needed
Fifteen thousand people have signed a petition calling on the NSW Government to keep the Goulburn Correctional Centre fully operational – but another 5000 signatures are needed before it can be presented to Parliament.
Fifteen thousand people have signed a petition calling on the NSW Government to keep the Goulburn Correctional Centre fully operational – but another 5000 signatures are needed before it can be presented to Parliament.
Goulburn-Mulwaree mayor Nina Dillon has taken to social media with a simple message: ‘We CAN do this”.
She has urged anyone who hasn’t signed the petition to do so.
As previously reported by The Southern Wire, the NSW Government is planning to close four Victorian-era wings at the correctional centre because they are no longer considered fit for use.
Approximately 170 inmates will be relocated to more modern facilities elsewhere in the state.
Minister for Corrections Anoulack Chanthivong has said there will be no job losses as a result of the closure, and the impact on Goulburn’s economy will be “minimal”.
However, those people fighting the closure say there will be immediate job losses, and the impact on the regional economy could be as high as $30 million a year.
Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman had said it would “defy common sense” for the Government to reduce capacity at a functional, fully staffed and strategically located regional facility at a time when the corrections system, without first examining how that capacity could be used.
She said options could include progressing refurbishing the Victorian-era wings to make them fit for purpose, repurposing the wings for use as a remand centre or utilising the site as a Corrective Services training and administration centre.
The petition calls on the NSW Government to immediately halt any plans to close the four wings and to engage in “meaningful, broad consultation” with staff and with the community.
It also calls on the Government to give a commitment to “ongoing, transparent evidence-based decision-making” in relation to the planned closure and to provide “publicly accessible reports” on alternate uses of the four wings in question.
Mr Chanthivong said earlier this year the closure was part of a reform program “that focuses on housing inmates in areas that meet modern requirements and support the safety of and well-being of staff and inmates”.
The recommendation to close the four Victorian-era wings was made in 2022 by the Inspector of Custodial Services, Fiona Rafter.
She said the four maximum security wings had been in use since 1884, and it would be impossible to refurbish them to a satisfactory standard.
The petition can be found at: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/Pages/epetition-details.aspx?q=atjSXhxBn9Tmv-wbI6K64A
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