Lotus Glen Correctional Centre is an Australian prison

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

 facility located 25 km south of Mareeba

Mareeba, Queensland

Mareeba is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. The town is above sea level on the confluence of the Barron River, Granite Creek and Emerald Creek. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning meeting of the waters...

 and 20 km north of Atherton

Atherton, Queensland

Atherton is a town on the Atherton Tablelands of Far North Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Atherton had a population of 7,068.-Roads:...

 in Far North Queensland

Far North Queensland

Far North Queensland, or FNQ, is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. The region, which contains a large section of the Tropical North Queensland area, stretches from the city of Cairns north to the Torres Strait...

. Lotus Glen provides a correctional service for high, medium, low and open classification inmates. Including a Prison Farm with a capacity for 115 "open security" inmates.

Population

Lotus Glen's "catchment area" for its inmate population includes Cairns

Cairns, Queensland

Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...

, The Cape York Region

Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

, The Torres Strait Islands

Torres Strait Islands

The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands which lie in Torres Strait, the waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea but Torres Strait Island known and Recognize as Nyumaria.The islands are mostly part of...

 and other isolated communities.
The centre has a total capacity of 498 (398 within the secure unit and 100 at the centre's farm).
Generally, 60% - 70% of the population of the centre are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons.

Facilities

The centre is used as a remand and reception facility and provides the programs necessary to induct both first time inmates and repeat offenders into the correctional environment. The facility runs work programs in the fields of both farming and industry, providing useful skills to the inmates in preparation for their release.

Facilities are being expanded to house 300 secure cells and 24 low-security farm beds at a cost of A$

Australian dollar

The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...

445 million. The new buildings have been built outside the existing secure area and are expected to be completed by December 2011.

Programs

Cultural programs are conducted at Lotus Glen in response to the centre's high Indigenous population. Specialist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff including correctional officers are employed to meet the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners. These needs are met through cultural programs, Elder visits, regular community visits, and ensuring that family ties are maintained.

The facility also runs a prison farm

Prison farm

A prison farm is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts are put to economical use in a 'farm' , usually for manual labour, largely in open air, such as in agriculture, logging, quarrying, etc...

for low and open security inmates. Although not necessary put to "hard labour" the inmates are expected to work the farms, allowing them time to develop skills and escape the daily routine of the prison.