Prison officer position description

Role purpose

The main responsibilities of a Prison Officer are to contribute to offender rehabilitation and to maintain the safety and security of the prison facility, prisoners and staff. 

By supporting prisoners to make positive changes via their behaviour and choices, Prison Officers play a vital role in helping prisoners become constructive members of the community.

Prison Officers are role models for prisoners and lead them in developing the perspectives, beliefs and skills they need to take the next step in their journey, whether that be to a different prison or into the community at the end of their sentence. 

In addition to maintaining safety and security, the role of a prison officer has a case management component, focussing on prisoners’ successful progression through their sentence and includes:

• Working in a multi-disciplinary team of professionals with diverse experiences and skills.
• Modelling and reinforcing positive behaviours that assist an individual prisoner’s ability to change their behaviour and maintain that change upon release.
• Facilitating prisoner participation in work, learning and programs.
• Supporting prisoners in connecting with family, community groups, other government departments, organisations and agencies.
• Providing prisoners with access to a range of services and options they’re not able to provide for themselves in a prison environment.
• The administration associated with case management such as report writing, documentation and assessment, and liaison with program and external agency staff to ensure the prisoner’s program participation aligns with their needs.

Prison officers maintain the safety and security of the facility via searches, escorting duties, observing and assessing prisoner behaviour, operating security equipment, collating information and effectively responding to prison incidents and emergencies.

Key accountabilities

• Work with all members of the prison to ensure the safety and security of prisoners, staff and visitors.
• Effectively manage a caseload of prisoners.
• Conduct patrols, searches and security related activities ensuring compliance with relevant policies and procedures.
• Maintain high quality documentation in relation to case files, prisoner assessments, and report preparation.
• Communicate with and give directions to prisoners in a respectful and motivational manner.
• Respond to prisoner complaints or requests and provide pro-active assistance and guidance to prisoners as required.
• Compliance with relevant legislation, policies and procedures.
• Pro-actively build and maintain positive relationships with peers, managers and stakeholders both within and external to the Department of Justice and Community Safety.
• Contribute to a safe and healthy working environment, consistent with Occupational Health and Safety policy, procedures and legislation. 
• Any reasonable additional tasks as required or requested by the Prison Supervisor.

Key selection criteria

Personal attributes

• Resilience: Is open to new ideas and approaches. Offers own opinions, asks questions makes suggestions; Does not give up easily; Maintains discipline in keeping to work planned or assigned.
• Self-awareness: Recognises own emotional responses to a range of people or events, and the impact these can have on others; Recognises that problems or challenges are a normal part of working and actions can be taken to manage them.
• Working Collaboratively: Cooperates and works well with others in pursuit of team goals; share information and acknowledge others’ efforts; step in to help others where required.
• Promote Inclusion: Is respectful, seeks to understand needs, beliefs, ability and values of people from diverse backgrounds; Understands the importance of diversity in successful service delivery to the community.

Enabling delivery

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Seeks resolution of problems through policy or process guidelines; Otherwise seeks guidance by providing information and ideas relevant towards resolution of problem. Understands concepts enabling improvements in critical thinking and problem solving.
• Digital and Technological Literacy: Performs a range of tasks through digital tools (e.g. Microsoft 365 suite applications such as Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Teams and SharePoint).
• Political and Organisational Context: Recognise the formal structure or hierarchy of an organisation and its policies and procedures.

Authentic relationships

• Influence and Persuasion: Understands the pros/cons of a different approaches; Uses direct logical persuasion in a discussion or presentation by using concrete examples, facts and figures to support their argument.
• Interpersonal Skills: Polite, professional and considerate in dealing with others; Aware of people’s moods and temperament; Expresses own views in a constructive and diplomatic way; Reflects on how own emotions impact on others.
• Managing Difficult Conversations: Considers other’s points of view; Understands that there are different ways of interpreting words and actions; Constructively comunicates concerns and issues.
• Communicate with Impact: Organises information in a logical sequence; Includes content appropriate to the purpose and audience.

People leadership

• Managing People: Understands own performance goals and how they are linked to broader operational needs; supports others to achieve goals; demonstrates empathy and contributes to the wellbeing and motivation of team; understands and acts in accordance to public sector values, ethics, and codes of conduct.

Qualifications

• Prior to commencement you will be required to obtain a current Statement of Attainment for the First Aid unit HLTAIDO11 Provide First Aid.
• A full and current Victorian driver’s licence or a minimum P2 driver’s licence.

Important information

The salary range for this position is set out in the Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement 2024. Please refer to the Department of Treasury and Finance website (External link) for further information.

Department policy stipulates that salary upon commencement is paid at the base of the salary range for the relevant grade. Any above base requests require sign off by an executive delegate and will be by exception only or where required to match the current salary of Victorian Public Service staff transferring at-level.

Individuals who have received a Voluntary Departure Package from a Victorian Public Service department/agency are ineligible for re-employment for a minimum period of three calendar years from the date of separation.

A re-employment restriction of one year applies to all recipients of an Early Retirement Scheme package from the VPS.

The department is committed to providing and maintaining a working environment which is safe and without risk to the health of its employees.

Safety commitment

• Staff safety commitment: Actively participate in health, safety, and wellbeing (HSW) programs and proactively report on all HSW incidents through the Justice Incident Management System (JIMS) to embed and support a strong safety-first culture that supports the HSW Strategy’s vision of “a workforce that thinks safety and works safely".
• Manager safety commitment: Create and maintain a working environment, that takes a zerotolerance approach to unsafe practices and behaviours, which supports the HSW Strategy’s vision of “a workforce that thinks safety and works safely”.
• Child safety commitment: The Department of Justice and Community Safety is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. We seek to prevent harm of any kind impacting children and young people and have zero tolerance for racism, child abuse and inequality. Children and young people’s rights, relationships, identity, and culture must be recognised and respected, their voices heard, and their concerns acted upon. We aim to foster a culturally safe, child safe and 
  child friendly environment for all children and young people we have contact with, deliver services to, or are impacted by our work.

Pre-employment checks

All appointments to the Department of Justice and Community Safety are subject to reference checks, pre-employment misconduct screening and criminal record checks. Some positions may also be subject to a Declaration of Private Interests (for executive and responsible officer roles), medical checks, and/or ‘Working with Children Check'.

If the position is based in a prison, youth justice facility or community corrections location, or has offender management responsibilities, employment may be subject to a number of additional pre-employment security and safety checks, including, but not limited to:

• Pre-employment Security and Misconduct Checks (Declaration Form)
• Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks (NCCHC)
• Fingerprints Check
• VicRoads Information Check
• Drivers Licence Check(s) (if applicable).

A Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check and an Australian Entitlement to Work Check is a requirement for all DJCS positions, and these checks require identification documents of either a passport or birth certificate.

For Aboriginal Prioritised or Designated positions, a Certificate of Aboriginality (CoA) will be required prior to an offer of employment being made.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are strongly encouraged to email: aboriginal.workforce@justice.vic.gov.au (External link) for support and assistance if they have any concerns that they cannot meet the identification documents requirements.

Values and behaviours

Department of Justice and Community Safety employees are required to demonstrate commitment to:

• The Department’s Values and Behaviours: Serve the community, work together, act with integrity, respect other people and make it happen.
• The Environment: The department is committed to minimising its environmental impact and requires all staff to comply with its environmental policy.
• Recordkeeping: The department is committed to good recordkeeping and requires all staff to routinely create and keep full and accurate records of their work-related activities, transactions and decisions, using authorised systems.
• Diversity: The department values an inclusive workplace that embraces diversity and strongly encourages applications from Aboriginal people, people with disability, people from the LGBTIQ community, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Further information

Please visit About the Department on the Department of Justice and Community Safety website for information on:

• Organisational values and structure
• Our policies such as privacy and conflict of interest
• The Victorian Public Service (VPS) code of conduct
• Our commitment to the safety and wellbeing of children.

Important notes:

• The prison officer position is uniformed, and it is a requirement of the role to work shifts that cover a 24-hour period, seven days of the week, including public holidays.
• There is a total smoking ban for all Victorian prisons: staff and prisoners cannot smoke or have tobacco-related products in any area of the prisons.
• Facial Hair Policy: All prison officers will be required (subject to a small number of exemptions) to be clean shaven for the purposes of wearing, if required in an  emergency, the donning of a breathing apparatus.

Learn more:

• Become a prison officer
• Get ready to apply to become a prison officer