Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
Encyclopedia
Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (formerly the Deer Park Metropolitan Women's Correctional Centre) is a maximum security women's prison located at Deer Park
, Victoria
, Australia
. It was designed by Guymer Bailey Architects Pty. Ltd. and built in 1996 as the first privately designed, financed and operated prison in Victoria. The centre is named after welfare worker and philanthropist Dame Phyllis Frost who was well known for her commitment to unpopular causes, most notably helping women prisoners. It is Victoria's largest women's prison and holds 260 prisoners.
Aside from HM Prison Tarrengower
it is the only women's prison in Victoria. As HM Prison Tarrengower is minimum security mainstream, all other female prisoners (medium security, maximum security, and all protection prisoners) are imprisoned at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
The prison facility was opened on 15 August 1996 and received its first prisoners that same month, many of whom had been transferred from Fairlea Women's Prison
. It was the first privately designed, financed, built and operated prison in Victoria.
On 3 October 2000, the government took control of the facility and appointed an administrator under section 8F of the Corrections Act, and section 27B of the prison contract to operate the prison. On 2 November 2000, the Minister for Corrections announced the transfer of ownership and management of MWCC to the public sector.
On 24 October 2003, a male prison guard was charged with raping prisoner after a mentally ill prisoner was found to be pregnant when she was transferred to the Thomas Embling Hospital, a secured psychiatric hospital, and DNA tests revealed the prison guard was the father. The guard pled not guilty to the charges.
In December 2007, a Department of Justice
office filing cabinet which was being moved to new offices was mistakenly discarded at a second-hand furniture shop and bought by a Point Cook
couple who discovered abandoned documents in the cabinet. After lengthy court action, documents from the filing cabinet were released and revealed allegations of corruption and sexual abuse at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
In November 2009, it was reported in the media that heroin and methamphetamine
were "readily available" in the jail and that there had been a large increase in drug overdoses and suicide attempts among inmates at the prison. The acting operations manager was also accused of changed rosters in order to have sex with a female prison officer, including once at the jail.
Deer Park, Victoria
Deer Park is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It was designed by Guymer Bailey Architects Pty. Ltd. and built in 1996 as the first privately designed, financed and operated prison in Victoria. The centre is named after welfare worker and philanthropist Dame Phyllis Frost who was well known for her commitment to unpopular causes, most notably helping women prisoners. It is Victoria's largest women's prison and holds 260 prisoners.
Aside from HM Prison Tarrengower
HM Prison Tarrengower
HM Prison Tarrengower is a women's prison located in Maldon, Victoria, Australia.-History:Originally a farm, the prison was opened in January 1988 after the property was purchased and accommodation units were built. Tarrengower is the only minimum security female prison in Victoria...
it is the only women's prison in Victoria. As HM Prison Tarrengower is minimum security mainstream, all other female prisoners (medium security, maximum security, and all protection prisoners) are imprisoned at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
The prison facility was opened on 15 August 1996 and received its first prisoners that same month, many of whom had been transferred from Fairlea Women's Prison
HM Prison Fairlea
HM Prison Fairlea was an Australian female prison located on Yarra Bend Road in the suburb of Fairfield, Victoria, Australia. The first all-female prison in Victoria, it was built on the site of the Yarra Bend Asylum, with remnants of the walls and gates being used in the layout of the prison. In...
. It was the first privately designed, financed, built and operated prison in Victoria.
On 3 October 2000, the government took control of the facility and appointed an administrator under section 8F of the Corrections Act, and section 27B of the prison contract to operate the prison. On 2 November 2000, the Minister for Corrections announced the transfer of ownership and management of MWCC to the public sector.
On 24 October 2003, a male prison guard was charged with raping prisoner after a mentally ill prisoner was found to be pregnant when she was transferred to the Thomas Embling Hospital, a secured psychiatric hospital, and DNA tests revealed the prison guard was the father. The guard pled not guilty to the charges.
In December 2007, a Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
office filing cabinet which was being moved to new offices was mistakenly discarded at a second-hand furniture shop and bought by a Point Cook
Point Cook, Victoria
Point Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 25 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Wyndham. At the 2006 Census, Point Cook had a population of 14,162, now it is estimated that the population of Point Cook is 32,167...
couple who discovered abandoned documents in the cabinet. After lengthy court action, documents from the filing cabinet were released and revealed allegations of corruption and sexual abuse at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
In November 2009, it was reported in the media that heroin and methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
were "readily available" in the jail and that there had been a large increase in drug overdoses and suicide attempts among inmates at the prison. The acting operations manager was also accused of changed rosters in order to have sex with a female prison officer, including once at the jail.
Notable past and present prisoners
- Chika Honda
- Wendy Peirce
- Judy MoranJudy MoranJudy Moran is the matriarch of the infamous Moran criminal family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Judy Moran was first married to Leslie John "Johnny" Cole, who was shot dead in Sydney drug-related gangland conflict in 1982...
- Renate MokbelTony MokbelAntonios Sajih 'Tony' Mokbel is an Australian from Melbourne, Australia, who was a fugitive until his recapture in Athens, Greece on 5 June 2007. He is of Lebanese descent and born in Kuwait. Detectives from Operation Purana allege that he is the mastermind behind the Melbourne amphetamines trade...
- Tania HermanMaria KorpMaria Korp was an Australian woman reported missing for four days and later found, barely alive, in the boot of her car on 13 February 2005. She spent a short time in a coma before emerging into a state of post coma unresponsiveness. She became the centre of a controversy in Australia during 2005...
- Roberta Williams
- Vicki Roach
- Andrea MohrAndrea MohrAndrea Mohr is a German writer who writes in German and English. Previously, she was involved in some international drug smuggling and other criminal activities like organized crime. She organized numerous trades around the world...