🟢 Petition Description:
We call on the Victorian Government to immediately halt the sale process of the former Dhurringile Prison and conduct a full review into reopening it as a minimum-security correctional facility focused on rehabilitation, farming, and vocational training.

Dhurringile Prison was closed in August 2024 despite having a unique and already-established infrastructure that includes farmland, agricultural facilities, workshops, and training spaces designed to help prisoners gain real job skills and prepare for employment after release.

Since its closure, the site has reportedly cost Victorian taxpayers millions of dollars in maintenance, while generating no income. At the same time, the property has been declared surplus government land and placed into a sale process, even though no clear public benefit has been demonstrated from selling it compared to reopening it.

We believe this raises serious questions about the best use of a valuable public asset.

Dhurringile is not a standard correctional facility. It is uniquely suited for rehabilitation-based corrections because of its farming and vocational infrastructure. These programs allow prisoners to:

Learn agricultural and land management skills
Gain real work experience
Improve employment prospects after release
Reduce the likelihood of reoffending
Rehabilitation is proven to work best when people leave prison with skills, structure, and employment pathways.

Reopening Dhurringile Prison would:

Provide meaningful rehabilitation and vocational training programs
Improve employment outcomes for prisoners after release
Reduce reoffending and improve community safety
Support local jobs and regional economic activity
Make use of existing government infrastructure instead of leaving it idle
Reduce ongoing taxpayer costs associated with maintaining an unused facility
Preserve a correctional asset that may be needed in the future
We also note that correctional facilities in Victoria have previously been reopened or repurposed when demand and circumstances changed. Dhurringile should be given the same consideration before any irreversible decisions are made regarding its future.

We are calling on the Victorian Government to:

Immediately pause any sale or disposal of Dhurringile Prison
Conduct a full independent review into reopening the facility as a minimum-security rehabilitation prison
Release a transparent cost-benefit analysis comparing maintenance/sale versus reopening
Consult with local communities, correctional experts, agricultural stakeholders, and Indigenous groups
Prioritise rehabilitation, training, and community safety in any final decision
Dhurringile Prison represents an opportunity to invest in rehabilitation, skills development, and regional communities rather than allowing a valuable public asset to sit unused.

We urge the Victorian Government to act now.