16 News

The Minns Labor Government will bring the management of Parklea Correctional Centre back into public hands in one of the largest de-privatisation moves in NSW history, further delivering on its commitment to publicly-owned assets, and to providing secure jobs and long-term career opportunities for working people.

The decision to return the management of this vital service to the public sector will secure over 400 well-paid public sector jobs for workers in Western Sydney.

The 1,576-bed facility at Parklea is Sydney’s second-largest remand centre and has been managed by MTC Australia (previously MTC Broadspectrum) since 2018, with its existing contract expiring in March 2026.

The contract will be extended by six months, to allow sufficient time for the transition to occur in October 2026.

Parklea will become the second NSW prison to return to public ownership after Corrective Services NSW takes over the management of Junee Correctional Centre on 1 April 2025, following a 16-month transition.

The NSW public sector is currently responsible for around 10,000 inmates across 31 prisons.

Corrective Services NSW and Justice Health will work with MTC, current employees, the Public Service Association of NSW, as well as the local community, as part of the transition.

A Corrective Services NSW transition team will be established to provide timely updates and additional support to current staff throughout the transition period.

NSW Premier Chris Minns:

“We began bringing Junee Correctional Centre back into public hands in 2023, and today, we take the first step in making Parklea public again.

“Frontline staff who work at Parklea Correctional Centre today will have a job at Parklea – regardless of the changes.

“We told voters at the last election that we opposed privatisation, and we are again delivering on that promise today.

“This is a win for hundreds of essential workers in Western Sydney as we rebuild essential services for NSW.”

Minister for Corrections Anoulack Chanthivong:

“The Minns Labor Government was elected with a clear mandate to ensure publicly owned assets remain in public hands, and returning Parklea to the public sector is a clear response to this mandate.

“Unlike private management, the Corrective Services NSW’s operating model is not based on a profit motive, it’s based on the objective to reduce reoffending following release from prison, which focuses on rehabilitation, education, and safe reintegration into the community.

“Due to the hard work Corrective Services NSW has done to bring the Junee Correctional Centre back into public ownership, we now have a blueprint for success that we’ll follow closely to ensure a smooth transition for Parklea Correctional Centre to transition back into the public sector.

“By bringing Junee and Parklea Correctional Centres back into public hands, we’re delivering better value for NSW taxpayers and improving outcomes for workers, inmates, and the community.”

Minister for Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis:

“This decision has been a long time coming and I welcome the Parklea Correctional Centre’s move back into public hands.

“We will work to support a smooth transition of staff employment arrangements into the public operated facility.”

Corrective Services NSW Acting Commissioner Leon Taylor:

“Corrective Services NSW will work with MTC and other stakeholders through this period of change with as minimal impact on day-to-day operations as possible.

“We look forward to Parklea Correctional Centre being safely back in public hands, which will provide secure jobs and career opportunities for our hardworking frontline Corrective Services NSW staff.”

The NSW and South Australia state governments are continuing their collaboration on initiatives to help improve the wellbeing of our schoolkids with an agreement to work on measures to combat bullying.

Deputy Premier and NSW Education Minister Prue Car and her South Australian education counterpart Blair Boyer signed a joint agreement to tackle the scourge of bullying.

The joint effort follows the success of last year’s groundbreaking Social Media Summit, organised jointly by the NSW and SA Premiers, to explore and address the impacts of social media on children and young people.

The MOU binds the two states to “undertake a coordinated approach to information sharing and collaboration to minimise the impacts of bullying in schools and support positive school environments”.

Work will commence immediately on the sharing of best practice prevention strategies that are already working in NSW and SA schools, curriculum materials and tools for educators to combat bullying, including cyberbullying, in our schools.

Last year NSW Premier Chris Minns and Deputy Premier Car announced they would lead the development of a statewide bullying framework for all NSW schools. 

The regulator of schools, the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), has already convened its first meeting with the school sectors to progress the work on the anti-bullying framework.

The MOU is just part of a suite of measures the Minns Labor Government has initiated to deal with challenges facing our schools.

• Banned mobile phones in all NSW Public schools, with a recent survey showing that 86% of principals believing socialising has improved since this came into effect.
• Implemented a new, stronger behaviour policy which provides teachers and principals with the authority they need to appropriately manage student behaviour.
• Introduced a revised school curriculum which includes lessons on bullying, respectful relationships and consent education.
• Hosted a Social Media Summit alongside the South Australian Government, and supported the Federal Government’s decision to raise the minimum age for social media to 16.
• Recruited 92 new school counsellors and psychologists since the beginning of this year.
• Launched the Spotlight on Cyberbullying Website which provides free and easily accessibly cyberbullying resources for parents, carers, teachers and schools.

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“Bullying is a scourge that impacts children across all school sectors, states and territories, and we all have a crucial role to play in stamping it out.

“NSW is leading the way nationally to address bullying and cyberbullying so children at all schools feel safe and supported to focus on their learning.

“I am proud to work with South Australia in progressing this issue. There is much that we can share with each other to come up with the best approaches to prevention.

“We all want the same outcome – which is to keep our kids safe and happy so that they can get the best out of their education.

“As we progress this work in NSW, we look forward to working with our state and federal counterparts on a consistent national approach.”

SA Minister for Education, Training and Skills Blair Boyer said:

“Preventing bullying before it starts is the best action we can take to make sure every child can get the education they deserve.

“That’s why we’ve focused our efforts on training teachers to better respond to bullying and bolstering the respectful relationships curriculum.

“Prue Car and I have made tackling bullying a priority and our new partnership will give staff more tools to act and support students.

“This action builds on South Australia’s nation-leading mobile phone ban, the rollout of explicit teaching of behaviour in schools, and 100FTE mental health and learning specialists in schools.

“Bullying impacts all schools in all sectors. That’s why we’re sharing resources and training across all sectors to take action across all schools.”   

The Minns Labor Government has established a new Expert Taskforce to oversee and help address silica related health risks for workers in tunnelling projects.

The Taskforce, made up of government, medical, industry and union representatives, will provide expert guidance to prevent and manage silica and other dust related disease associated with tunnelling projects in NSW.

Major tunnelling projects present heightened risks for silica-related lung disease.

Tunnelling is vital to the transformation of the States civil infrastructure, which includes road and rail networks, to ensure New South Wales is a modern and globally competitive place to live, work and do business.

Four broad areas of action have been identified to help focus and guide the work of the Taskforce including:

Better use of data with more transparent access

Under the program, project persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure worker access to workplace air monitoring data with SafeWork NSW to make exceedance notification date publicly available and use the data to guide regulatory reform. SafeWork NSW will also partner with the Dust Diseases Board to establish data-driven research.

Improved health monitoring

Improved health monitoring will help to protect worker’s long-term health and safety. It will also play a key role in informing a continual improvement process for businesses and regulators in dealing with silica dust work health and safety risks. The Government’s commitment to the silica worker register is a key initiative to support improved health monitoring for workers.

Best practice Work Health and Safety controls

SafeWork NSW will review and revise the Tunnels Under Construction Code of Practice to guide industry and workers on best practice control measures. Major tunnelling PCBU will regularly meet to share information and experience, and to establish a consistent best practice benchmark across the industry.

Enhanced compliance

SafeWork NSW will maintain and reinforce dedicated resources to monitor tunnelling and silica respirable crystalline silica dust results to enable optimal work health and safety.

It will also develop a tunnelling project silica compliance assessment to establish a clear set of criteria on which to assess the safety performance of projects to assist strengthened application of suitable controls to manage risk.

SafeWork NSW has surged additional staff into the Silica Task Force (STF) team, which is undertaking compliance activities in all tunnels under construction in NSW. Eight inspectors from the STF are undertaking these regular visits.

On January 1, 2025, the Minns Labor government welcomed the ban on the importation of engineered stone products to protect the future health and safety of workers.

The national import ban covers engineered stone benchtops, slabs and panels with silica content of more than one percent.

This follows the world-first domestic ban on the use, supply and manufacture of engineered stone products in Australia that started on 1 July last year.

The ban prohibits the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs containing at least 1% silica.

The Minns Labor Government led the campaign for the national ban, vowing it was prepared to act unilaterally, ahead of an agreement being reached across the Commonwealth.

The NSW government is funding a team of dedicated silica safety inspectors to ensure businesses are complying with the strengthened laws. 

Since September, the $2.5 million investment has seen a Silica Compliance Team conduct 140 inspections, handing out three fines totalling almost $10,000 for non-compliance. More than 125 improvement notices have been issued and seven prohibition notices in workplaces.

The moves aim to safeguard workers from silicosis, a lung disease caused by respirable crystalline silica, which tragically has led to several deaths.

Silicosis is caused by items with a high silica content such as engineered stone. Engineered stone is a common item used in kitchen benchtops.

The Minns Labor government has pledged $5 million in critical funding for silicosis research and a patient support program for individuals and their families navigating the health risks associated with exposure to silica dust.

The grant funding, administered collaboratively by icare and the Dust Diseases Board, will be provided over three years to the Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute (ADDRI).

In addition, the icare Lung mobile lung clinic provides specialised lung health assessments to current and retired workers who are at risk of developing a workplace dust disease, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis or silicosis.

In 2025, the Lung Bus will travel right around the state, including stops in Taree, Tuncurry, Lake Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Tweed Heads, Wollongong, Shellharbour, Nowra, Bathurst, Dubbo, Griffith, Newcastle and Tamworth.

More information on the full list of Lung Bus destinations can be found here.

https://www.icare.nsw.gov.au/injured-or-ill-people/work-related-dust-disease/services-and-support/lung-screening-service/workers-mobile-clinic-lung-bus-bookings-for-workers

More information on crystalline silica and the new safety requirements can be found here:

www.safework.nsw.gov.au/hazards-a-z/hazardous-chemical/priority-chemicals/crystalline-silica#new-safety-requirements

Minister for Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis said:

“The Minns Labor Government is committed to addressing silica dust work health and safety risks to protect workers. The Taskforce will give the community confidence that we have the right experience and expertise in the same room to guide the response to this risk.

“I welcome the important work of the expert taskforce to protect the health and safety of workers. We have identified areas which will be addressed in a co-ordinated, transparent process which will help create safer workplaces.”

SafeWork NSW Acting Deputy Secretary Trent Curtin said:

“SafeWork NSW is committed to maintaining leading practices to protect the workers of this State and is looking forward to working together with experts across Government, industry, unions and health to address this issue.

“SafeWork NSW will continue to work with industry to ensure compliance with existing safety standards and that workers are being protected against any potential exposure to silica dust.”

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will host global superannuation leaders in Sydney in the second half of this year, following the success of an inaugural gathering of the Australian sector in the US last week.

The Sydney Superannuation Summit will build on the NSW capital’s steadily growing position as the financial hub of the Asia Pacific.

Last week’s landmark Australian Superannuation International Summit, hosted by US Ambassador Kevin Rudd in Washington and New York, brought together Australia’s biggest funds to showcase their potential on the world stage.

Together the Australian funds invest $631.6 billion into the US economy.

Financial leaders addressing the summit included US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

NSW Treasury Corp chief executive David Deverall told the gathering how Sydney’s status as the financial services hub of the Asia Pacific had evolved.

Mr Deverall said Sydney’s economic strength was underpinned by a strong investment pipeline, a large skilled workforce and advanced digital infrastructure.

He said that Sydney is home to the country’s biggest banks, and that it dominates Australia’s venture capital and private equity activity in Australia.

Nearly 60 per cent of Australian venture capital is in NSW. Mr Deverall told the summit Sydney’s advanced digital infrastructure and willingness to embrace innovation had made it an attractive place for businesses to start and grow.

Sydney produces half of Australia’s business “unicorns”, or those valued above USD$1 billion, and almost three quarters of those on the way to reaching that threshold. 

It is a world leader in research output per capita, a strength which plays into its financial and tech workforce and is reflected in a steady supply of qualified graduates from its universities.

It is ranked fourth in the world as the most popular investment destination for foreign investors, after Dubai, London and Singapore, according to Investment Monitor.

Australian superannuation funds manage a total $4 trillion in assets.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“The Sydney Superannuation Summit will leverage our strength as the financial hub of the Asia Pacific.

“Half of Australia’s businesses unicorns were born right here in NSW.  They’ve been able to grow because of the high value we place on innovation and technological development.

“Sydney ranks in the top five of the most popular investment destinations around the world.  Our Summit is an opportunity to harness that momentum.”

Two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) constructing the mega Sydney Metro West tunnels have made a smashing entrance 24-metres below the surface at the Clyde Metro junction caverns.

This latest milestone means that over 80 per cent of the 24-kilometre twin metro railway tunnels for this city-shaping project that the Minns Labor Government is using to drive housing uplift has been completed.

TBM Dorothy broke through the solid rock walls to arrive at the giant junction caverns last month, after spending three months tunnelling 1.1 kilometres from Clyde.

TBM Betty was tracking slightly ahead, arriving at Clyde junction caverns in December last year. TBM Betty spent seven weeks traversing the cavern is now tunnelling towards Parramatta.

This junction cavern at Clyde will play a critical role in the Sydney Metro network as it connects the metro tunnels with the above ground stabling and maintenance facility, where the network’s new fleet of trains will be housed when not in service.

Since starting their westward tunnelling journey in September 2024, TBMs Betty and Dorothy have been working around the clock to excavate about 200 metres of tunnel each week.

So far, the TBMs have carved out 5.7-kilometres of twin tunnels between Sydney Olympic Park and Clyde, removing more than 1.1 million tonnes of material, equivalent to about 180 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Along the way, the TBMs have installed more than 41,000 precast concrete segments to line the new tunnel walls. Each precast segment weighs about 3.8 tonnes, with six segments pieced together to form one ring around the tunnel.

Both TBMs will now build a further 1.1-kilometre section of tunnels to reach the site of the future Parramatta Metro Station by mid-year.

This project will double rail capacity between the Sydney CBD and Parramatta CBD which is why the Minns Labor Government has modified planning controls around a number of these new stations to turbocharge the delivery of new housing.

Housing is the largest cost most people are facing and the NSW Government is getting more homes built near public transport, improving affordability, reducing building and infrastructure costs and building a better NSW.

For more information, visit sydneymetro.info/west/project-overview.

Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:

“This is another huge step forward as we deliver the largest new public transport project Western Sydney has seen in generations while also turbocharging the delivery of new homes.

“These fast and reliable new metro services will double rail capacity between the Sydney CBD and Parramatta and will be a gamechanger, getting more people around our city faster.

“I want to thank the thousands of workers who have gotten this project to this point and will be working around the clock until Australia’s largest public transport project is opened.”

Minister for Transport John Graham said:

“Like their standout namesakes, these huge tunnelling machines are breaking new ground, which will have a lasting impact and transform the way Sydney’s west moves for generations to come.

“The TBMs are headed for Parramatta, Sydney’s second biggest business district, as they continue to carve out this game-changing new railway line that is expected to move 30,000 passengers every hour during the morning peak when it opens in 2032.