Celebrating National Corrections Day 2026 (with audio grabs)

May 15 is National Corrections Day, an occasion where we stop to recognise and celebrate our officers working to make Queensland safer where you live. 

 

It is a day dedicated to recognising the often-unsung contributions of corrective services officers who work tirelessly to ensure public safety across the country. 

 

From Boigu Island in the Torres Strait to Mungindi in the state’s far south and west to Camooweal, Queensland Corrective Services’ more than 9000 officers work to make Queensland a safer place for all of us. 

 

You may think of corrections simply in terms of prisons, but in addition to the 13 high and seven low-security centres across the State, we operate 35 Community Corrections district offices, and over 140 reporting locations across the state. 

 

We also have 13 work camps embedded in regional and remote Queensland communities, assisting with activities such as maintenance of public facilities like cemeteries, parks and rest areas and assisting with agricultural shows and major events that draw thousands of tourists to our regions each year. 

 

In the past year, correctional centres and workcamps filled more than 10,000 sandbags to help communities prepare for flooding up and down the coast, as well as being on hand to assist clean up after storms and cyclones, including at Clermont, which saw the worst floods since 1916.

 

Capricornia Correctional Centre also assisted with the recovery in the Clermont region by cutting and donating 88 round bales of hay to help graziers whose cattle were stranded in floodwater.

 

So far this year, QCS work camps and low custody facilities have provided nearly $8.5 million in labour to communities across the State, benefiting not only our country towns, but providing prisoners with the skills and training to lead successful, crime-free lives upon their release back into the community, reducing the number of victims.

To mark this year’s National Corrections Day, communities across Queensland are again lighting up landmarks in blue this evening in recognition of the critical but often hidden work of our officers. 

This year’s theme is Extraordinary Work, Extraordinary People, a reminder to us all that the important work of our 9,000 officers makes an extraordinary difference to Queensland. 

Our officers, whether they are custodial correctional officers, community corrections specialists, trade and educational instructors, dog squad officers, psychologists, counsellors, cultural liaison officers, frontline support, or administrative officers, all do remarkable work to reduce crime.

 

Corrections is a vital link in the criminal justice system, and we work hand-in-hand with police, the courts and Parole Board Queensland to reduce crime rates and make Queensland a safer place to live, work and visit. 

 

Our officers are the lifeblood of our agency. We value their commitment and dedication to keeping Queensland communities safe. I extend my heartfelt thanks to each one of them for their unwavering commitment and dedication to the great state of Queensland.  

 

Happy National Corrections Day.

Queensland Corrective Services, Commissioner Paul Stewart, APM

 

What do Corrective Services Officers do?

 

Why is National Corrections Day important?

 

How can the community support Corrective Services Officers?

 

What is happening for National Corrections Day?