Clarence Correctional Centre is an availability-based public-private partnership project between the New South Wales Government and the NorthernPathways Consortium to design, build, finance, operate and maintain a 1,700-bed correctional centre in Grafton, New South Wales.

At the time of financial close in 2017, John Laing held an 80% interest in the NorthernPathways consortium. The other shareholders in NorthernPathways were construction partner John Holland Group and operator Serco Group Plc. John Laing has since increased its equity stake to 100%.

The facility has an innovative approach to the education, rehabilitation, and reintegration of offenders into the community, operating a results-focused model, with the aim of reducing recidivism rates.

John Laing has played a lead role in the development and delivery of the project. The project company management team consists entirely of John Laing employees who, working closely with our partners, have been instrumental in leading the project through the design and construction phase. John Laing has two representatives on the NorthernPathways board, including the Chair of the board.

The Project was delivered on schedule by John Holland Group, and the John Laing team oversaw the on-time commencement of operations in July 2020. The project created over 1,200 jobs during construction and employs around 600 permanent staff in operations. The centre is focused on rehabilitation to reduce reoffending rates, and features state-of-the-art technology to ensure safety and security.

Clarence is one of the first prisons to be designed and operated in accordance with the New South Wales State Government's Better Prisons programme. Announced in 2016, Better Prisons is designed to improve performance, reduce reoffending, and increase efficiency. A core goal of the programme is to deliver a correctional system that focuses on rehabilitation as a measurement of success. This includes industry and community partnerships to provide vocational training aimed at improving inmates' employment prospects and help facilitate reintegration back into society.