Chisholm Road Prison passed a major milestone this month with over one million labour hours worked on the project since construction started in February 2020.

Minister for Correction Natalie Hutchins congratulated all those involved on their mammoth efforts to date – which will see the new 1,248 bed maximum security prison become Victoria’s largest public prison when completed.

The project is expected to provide $279 million in direct economic benefits and create ongoing jobs in the Greater Geelong region.

The 800 workers currently employed at Chisholm Road are recording a combined average of more than 7,000 labour hours per day as they work to complete the project across a construction area five times the size of the MCG.

Building foundations have been laid and over 20 kilometres of communications and electrical cables installed, following the signing of a contract to complete the project in October 2020. Construction is expected to peak in mid-2021 with more than 1,000 workers on site to deliver the new maximum-security prison.

The project aims to maximise the use of locally milled steel with 92 per cent of labour and materials sourced from Australia and New Zealand.

Apprentices, trainees and cadets have been allocated 10 per cent of labour hours on the project, with a further 30,000 hours targeted at Victorians living in postcode areas with high unemployment.

The project will also direct a total of $16.3 million to social enterprises that support Indigenous and disadvantaged Victorians and people with a disability.

An expansion of the prison from 700 to 1,248 beds was included as part of $1.8 billion in new spending on Victoria’s prisons and corrections system announced in the 2019-20 Budget.

Construction of the prison is being managed by John Holland, overseen by the Community Safety Building Authority, which delivers infrastructure on behalf of the Department of Justice and Community Safety.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Corrections Natalie Hutchins

“We’re making rapid progress towards completing Chisholm Road – with one million hours worked in the past year – as we upgrade our corrections system to keep the community safe now and into the future.”

“A total of 300,000 labour hours on the project are allocated to apprentices, trainees and cadets and will help support young workers starting out in their career.”

Quote attributable to Member for Lara John Eren

“As well as creating over 1,000 jobs during construction, this project will create additional ongoing local jobs once Chisholm Road is operational in 2022.”