Southern Queensland Correctional Centre transition
Centre overview
The Southern Queensland Correctional Centre opened in January 2012 near Gatton, west of Brisbane. In 2018 the centre was reclassified as a women’s facility under Operation Elevate – a program designed to solve chronic overcrowding and improve conditions and outcomes for women in custody.
The centre provides secure placement accommodation for sentenced and remand women that are classified as high or low security. SQCC has 300 beds – 104 secure and 196 residential. Serco Australia Pty Ltd has managed and operated the centre since it opened.
Operation Certitude
On 26 March 2019 the Government announced its decision to transition Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre (AGCC) and Southern Queensland Correctional Centre (SQCC) to public operations.
Operation Certitude is the four year, $111 million program responsible for both transitions. The program’s primary objective is to seamlessly transition the centres from private to public control while ensuring the safety of prisoners, officers and the community.
It is the most complex project in QCS’s 169 year history and involves significant recruitment, training and infrastructure activities.
The AGCC transition occurred on 1 July 2020. The SQCC transition will be completed on 1 July 2021.
On completion of Operation Certitude, all Queensland prisons will be managed and operated by QCS.
SQCC information for the community
Under QCS operation, the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre (SQCC) will remain an important part of the local community. QCS is proud to be an employer of choice for about 5,500 Queenslanders and to contract local suppliers and service providers.
In partnership with other key criminal justice agencies, QCS is committed to its critical role in ensuring community safety and crime prevention.
As part of the AGCC transition, QCS created more than 200 additional jobs in the local community – in custodial, offender development and administration. All QCS jobs are advertised on the Smart Jobs Website.
For information about the visits process at SQCC, please visit the SCQQ visits page. For personal booking or visits enquiries please phone the Visitors Centre on (07) 5466 6890.
Contact us
Operation Certitude:
If you have any queries about the transition, please contact the Operation Certitude project team directly on OperationCertitude@corrections.qld.gov.au.
Southern Queensland Correctional Centre
Street address:
Millers Road
Spring Creek QLD 4343
Postal address:
Locked Bag 1008
Gatton QLD 4343
General phone:
(07) 5466 6888
Visitor Centre:
(07) 5466 6890