Christmas behind bars

Paul Kelly’s iconic Christmas song Who’ll make the gravy tells the story of a man facing Christmas in prison, away from his loved ones after ‘screwing up’.

It is the reality facing about 8800 Queenslanders this Christmas.

Hello Dan, it’s Joe here, I hope you’re keeping well,

It’s the 21st of December, and now they’re ringing the last bells,

If I get good behaviour, I’ll be out of here by July,

Won’t you kiss my kids on Christmas Day, please don’t let ’em cry for me.

But it won’t just be prisoners who don’t get to spend Christmas with their loved ones.

This year, close to 1000 Queensland Corrective Services officers will work over the 24-hours of Christmas Day to ensure the safety and security of our prisons and supervising offenders in the community.

So what is Christmas like in prison?

As you can imagine, there isn’t a lot to look forward on Christmas morning. In fact, it is pretty much like any weekend day.

Most industries don’t operate, except critical services like the kitchen and the commercial laundry at Brisbane Correctional Centre, which launders linen for the Gold Coast and Ipswich hospitals, which operates seven days a week, 365 days a year.

At most of our centres, officers working day shift on Christmas have a hot breakfast, often cooked or served by their General Managers, but otherwise it is business as usual for our dedicated and professional officers who are the front line of keeping community safe.

To all our staff working this Christmas and New Year – stay safe, and thank you!