Minister and Commissioner celebrate Corrections excellence

• Legislation writers take out the Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) Commissioner’s 2024 Award for Excellence.
• Woodford Correctional Centre wins two separate awards for safety and respect.
• 14 QCS officers also presented with National Emergency Response medals and clasps for assisting with community recovery from TC Debbie and the 2019 North Queensland Floods.

 

Corrective Services Minister Nikki Boyd and QCS Commissioner Paul Stewart APM have recognised individual and team distinction at the 2024 Commissioner’s Awards for Excellence in Brisbane.

The QCS Commissioner’s Awards for Excellence are now in their sixth year across five categories: Safety, Collaboration, Empowerment, Respect and Accountability.

Queensland Corrective Services’ Legislation Group and Cabinet Legislation and Liaison Office took out the Commissioner’s overall Award for Excellence, recognising a commitment to community safety through its work on the Corrective Services (Promoting Safety) and other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024.

Woodford Correctional Centre received Awards for Excellence in Safety and Respect.

Townsville Correctional Centre officers received an Award for Excellence in Collaboration, Palm Island Community Corrections for Empowerment, while the QCS Connect Project is recognised for Accountability.

National Emergency Response medals and clasps have been presented to 14 QCS officers for their recovery work after the 2019 North Queensland Floods and Tropical Cyclone Debbie.

The Commissioner’s Ethical and Meritorious Service medals were awarded to nine officers, while several from Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre received the Commissioner’s Unit Citation for outstanding conduct, professionalism and bravery.

Quotes attributable to Corrective Services Minister, Nikki Boyd:

“Community safety, respect, collaboration, empowerment and accountability are at the very core of the frontline work QCS officers do to keep Queenslanders safe and reduce reoffending.

“The distinguished winners of this year’s Commissioner’s Awards for Excellence have without exception raised the bar on building and maintaining safer Queensland communities.

“Working on the Corrective Services frontline isn’t an easy job, it can be confronting and challenging, and that’s what makes these awards for career excellence so important.

“Congratulations and thank you to the QCS officers receiving National Emergency Response medals and clasps for going above and beyond to help North Queenslanders recover from the 2019 floods and Cyclone Debbie.”

Quotes attributable to Mr Paul Stewart APM, Commissioner, Queensland Corrective Services:

“Keeping communities safe, the welfare of our officers and prisoner rehabilitation is the focus of our work in corrections and this year’s award recipients have delivered on those key areas with fortitude and excellence.

“I commend all our award recipients for their service. It’s important we celebrate the individuals, teams and partnerships who have excelled over the past 12 months and appreciate the contribution their work has in making our communities safer.”

Commissioner’s Awards for Excellence recipients:

Overall award winner – The Legislation Group and Cabinet Legislation and Liaison Office

Recognised for their work on the Corrective Services (Promoting Safety) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, supporting QCS’ commitment to community safety. The Bill promotes the safety of victims of crime, frontline corrective service officers, offenders and the broader community.

Safety – Woodford Correctional Centre Special Services Team

Recognised for providing safer correctional environments through collaborative efforts and a proactive approach to risk mitigation. With a balanced and pro-active approach, and combining security measures with rehabilitation and reintegration efforts, the team contributes to the well-being of all stakeholders and the reduction in the number of at-risk incidents. This is demonstrated through fostering teamwork, continuous training, combined with prisoner and stakeholder engagement.

Collaboration – Civil Safety Partnership with Townsville Correctional Centre

The partnership between Townsville Correctional Centre Low Custody and Civil Safety Townsville is recognised for providing real workforce style training to First Nations prisoners, ensuring job readiness upon release.  Civil Safety is the leading high-risk training provider in Queensland and has formed a strategic alliance with On Common Country, offering a proven pathway to employment for prisoners.  For 2023-24 there have been 1841 Units of Competency completed and 121 Qualifications obtained.

Empowerment – Palm Island Community Corrections

Recognised for forging successful collaborations with local government and non-government services with a mutual goal of keeping the community safe. The team ensures community safety through effective partnerships with stakeholders. The team have been instrumental in facilitating successful Leave of Absences and increased family connections from custody, providing support to incarcerated Palm Islanders as well as re-entry support for prisoners on release to enhance safety and maximise rehabilitation. 

Respect – Woodford Correctional Centre with Health, Safety, and Wellbeing and Converge International

Woodford Correctional Centre is recognised for trialling on-site EAP (Converge) services. This initiative recognises the importance of welfare and culture, and how strengthening partnerships in the welfare space supports a safe and sustainable correctional system. The on-site clinician facilitated team-based discussions, psychoeducation and debriefs, provide a more fit for purpose and consistent application of staff support, with a focus on specific operational needs and emerging welfare concerns.

Accountability – QCS Connect Project

Recognised for their work to use innovative technology to deliver tools to enhance and support case management activities and aid rehabilitation efforts. QCS Connect provided a significant uplift in digitisation, complementing face-to-face supervision of individuals subject to parole and other community-based orders by providing self-service capabilities via new digital kiosks being installed in Community Corrections offices. With an improved focus on reducing the likelihood of reoffending, QCS Connect provides officers with more ways to help supervised individuals break the cycle of offending and streamlines office processes.