correctional officer

psychologist

administrative clerk

program officer

unit leader

Corrective Services NSW

The job as stated by what a supervisor once told me as "99% boredom, 1% butt-puckering" would be somewhat accurate. As a casual you will work where there are vacancies in the centres due to sick leave taken or staff shortages on-call everyday, or urgent needs. 

Occasionally you will be offered temporary full-time employment where you will work days, nights and afternoon shifts, doing 7-6 working days with 3 days off or something similar. Working public holidays and weekends as well typically 8 hours however some gaols do 12 hours. Benchmarking ongoing. 

As a casual you will not have the same benefits, job security or opportunities that permanent officers will have. The correctional culture also views casuals as expendable, incompetent and insignificant. "putrid casual" is the term coined. 

The job is heavily unionised but not as powerful as in the 1980s. Work politics and gossip is common and there is the notion that the department will use their officers as scapegoats and shift blame on them if an incident were to occur that would elicit investigation. Responsibility is a huge part of this job.

The job is rarely stressful at the bottom of the food chain. Dealing with assaults, self-harm, mental health, non-compliant inmates and use of force were part of the job for me and I found engaging and a great learning experience. 

The biggest challenge are the officers you work with. If you joined to make a difference in the community you may experience severe disappointment and disillusionment in your career choice. The police may be a far better alternative as spoken with some correctional officers. 

I experienced a culture where officers feared paperwork and doing any sort of work at all, new officers did not get taught and were often thrown in the deep end and into potentially dangerous situations that were preventable. Some good operators but most were just average or far below that. Lack of consistent quality

Most of the time is spent meeting the daily routine of the gaol, facilitating visits, exercising inmates, dealing with inmate inquiries. Observing and maintain officer safety and security (#1), responding to the occasional incident, maintain control of your area/post, and security and good order of the gaol. 

Most officers I met joined the job to pay the bills. Few for other mundane reasons. If you're interested in this job apply and try for yourself, everyone's personal experiences are different and it is what you make of it. 

This job is not for everyone and they meant it. I wouldn't personally recommend it if you have better job prospects or choices, it's a working class job.

I was working within NSW  Corrections as a SAPO.
The position itself did have some positives and could be of real benefit not only the offender but the community.
The program was very difficult to run within the operational areas of bigger higher classification centres.
The centre I was at was continually stripped of the custodial staff that supervised the area subsequently resulting in no program delivery.
This had a roll on affect as course completion was still a requirement and a Ten week course was being cut to a 7 week course and even the session times greatly reduced due to time restrictions and the need to fast track.
This was not really an affective way to assist the rehabilitation process but more ticking the box for offender course completion rates.
The program was much more successful when run in the community and at the minimum security centres where I observed a real effort from the offenders to attend and become involved in all aspects of the sessions.
The team I worked with was very focused and wanted to achieve but there was a large volume of historical personal issues within the team including the two snr SAPO's this affected morale constantly.

I have worked for this employer for more than 10 years and I am disgusted by level of nepotism, conduct which could be considered corrupt, under the table deals with managers.
I have witnessed managers supplying inmates with private food for intel.
Managers look after their mates,give them F/M positions with no application process, they act up other mates to F/M and allocate the best posts to their there mates or those officers than will "get under the table"
Union reps are threatened with no acting up to F/M if they dispute what managers are doing.
Inmates run the MAXO pods, management post a T/E in the pod and give them a casual to work with, what do they expect? these poor officers do not have the experience yet.
They do this while posting their mates( who are long term experienced officers) in favored posts such as the new build.
Roster clerks are directing officers to do O/T or work in certain posts.
A clerk 3/4 telling officers where/when to work.Roster clerks also have their favorites so the also put them in good posts.
The commissioner really needs to sort out this mess and give the high level managers the flick.
looking for a different employer.

I found the work environment extremely difficult due to ongoing bullying, poor team dynamics and management that appeared inconsistent in how staff concerns were handled. There were also frequent inappropriate conversations that made the workplace feel uncomfortable and unprofessional. I often felt unsupported and excluded by colleagues, which affected my confidence and wellbeing at work. Although the role itself gave me useful administrative experience, the team culture made it difficult to perform at my best. I believe the workplace would benefit from stronger leadership, clearer behavioural standards, fairer treatment of staff and a more effective process for addressing bullying and inappropriate conduct. Employees should be able to raise concerns without feeling dismissed or worried about negative consequences. A respectful, professional and supportive environment would improve staff morale, performance and retention.

Should be dept of nepotism and cronyism. No real skill or leadership quality at the top anymore nest feathering and butt kicking. There OT for the guys on the ground is plentiful you will make a bucket of money but that will come at a cost to your family and your personal help. When you do fall don’t expect to be supported you will be crushed. You are a body in a uniform and there’s plenty more where you come from. Give them nothing of yourself and take as much as you can. All the money in the world is not worth them crushing you without a care!!!

 it is the most toxic space they support bullies, racism, sexism homophobia and everything else against the code of conduct. They use that book for toilet paper

when you work in min minimum security the officers are cowards who pick on the weaker inmates. put them in maximum security and they wouldn't say boo. There is no rotation of officers so if you get put in maximum security at the start then life is tough and very stressful. But if your luckily enough to be first place in Minimum security at the start then its a breeze. The inmates aren't the problem its the officers you work with.

On a whole, I am happy with the role that I have at the moment, but now wish to make a change into a more Administrative role.  Doing general office type work and learning a different type of role.  I feel that my future lies in a less intense environment and also want the stability of being able to work consistently with my knowledge and experience in an office that will be more suited to me.

I wouldn’t look at Community Corrections for a long term career as the vicarious trauma is heightened the longer you’re there. Although management profess that they are there to assist with mental health, in reality you’ll be pushed to the point of despair, so you end up leaving instead of getting the assistance required. 

It’s a paramilitary organisation and you’re just a number unfortunately. 


We handled the people that society could not handle in a holistic approach. Not only keeping convicted criminals away from the public but also attempting to change the behavior of these offenders keeping them healthy physically and mentally providing them with skills that would enable them to re enter the community as worthwhile productive employable people.

The area worked in was very busy and had good staff.  This I have found in other govt organisations.  More & more work expected of staff as the ministerial cost cutting measures cause less staff to do more work.  New technologies were introduced but like other govt organisations the benefits ascribed is greater than deliverable.
From staff, management & expectation viewpoint good environment.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Correctional officer 2 salaries reported	$105,105 per year
Psychologist 3 salaries reported	$106,123 per year
Administrative clerk 17 salaries reported	$72,591 per year
Program officer 1 salary reported	$105,105 per year
Unit leader 5 salaries reported	$107,501 per year

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