20 graduates a boost for staff at Bunbury prison

More than 20 local jobs were created at the weekend when prison officers headed to work at Bunbury Regional Prison following their graduation last week.

As part of the 160-bed upgrade at Bunbury Regional Prison, 24 additional prison officers participated in a 12-week training program to take up positions at the facility.

The officers’ graduation was held at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on Thursday morning.

Special guests included State Corrective Services Minister Francis Logan, Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall, deputy commissioner Mike Reynolds and Bunbury Regional Prison superintendent Kerri Bishop.

“The graduates we have here before us are part of a recruitment program of 450 prison across Western Australia,” Mr Logan said.

“In our community all of us see the work of people like the police and the firefighters.

“They keep us safe, but so do the prison officers and without them we would not have a safe community.”

Mr Hassall encouraged the graduates, as they entered the workforce, to bring their diverse backgrounds to the job.

“All those things you bring, your life skills and your experiences, bring that to the front,” he said.

“You do have the ability to change the lives of individuals and make the State a safer State.”

Graduate prison officer Joanne Beattie said it felt fantastic to finish the training.

“I thought with my life skills and experience that I’d be able to go in there and help rehabilitate those less fortunate,” she said.

Prison officer Isaac Reading said he chose this career path because he was looking for something more “food for the soul”.

“I feel like I can go into a prison environment and help those people,” he said.

This cohort of 20 prison officers is only the second group to have gone through the required training in Bunbury.