Cooriemungle Prison Camp

Full description

The Cooriemungle Prison Camp was proclaimed under the Gaols Act 1928 in August 1939 as a minimum security prison farm near the town of Cooriemungle. Only prisoners serving the last portion of their sentence and had a record of good behaviour were transferred to the prison camp. With a focus on work and transition back into the community rather than punishment, the prison was considered modern for the time, even in comparison to other reformatory prisons.

The prison provided land clearing and farming activities using prisoner labour and provided a significant amount of land clearing and other labour for the Heytesbury Settlement Scheme for returned soldiers. The prison site was expanded in 1953.

It was closed in December 1977 and the prison proclamation was officially revoked in February 1978 under the Social Welfare Act 1970. The prison site has since been turned into a holiday and camping park, with many of the original cells in tact.