Bunbury prison officer celebrated with photo at Yagan Square

Bunbury Regional Prison vocational support officer Shane Campbell’s face is up in lights at Yagan Square in Perth today as part of a slideshow celebrating the people who work in corrections as part of National Corrections Week.

Mr Campbell is one of 27 WA corrections officers selected by the Department of Justice to be featured on the slideshow, which will run at 2pm each day until Sunday.

A cabinet maker by trade, Mr Campbell works with prisoners in the cabinet workshop, training them in skills they can take into the workforce once released.

Having worked in the security side of corrections for the past 20 years, Mr Campbell said he was excited to start in the cabinet workshop six months ago and has been loving it ever since.

When you love a job, you don’t feel like you’re working.

“We’ve got a good crew here and they all work well together.

“The rewarding thing is to see a prisoner leave and know he’s not coming back.”

Working with a crew of 21 prisoners, Mr Campbell said the workshop was a positive space where they worked on anything from furniture to beehives.

“They want to be here and enjoy working here, and sometimes when it comes to pack up they don’t want to go back,” he said. “So that’s rewarding knowing that they want to stay… and they do a really good job.”

With a passion for training, Mr Campbell said he was looking to start a certificate two course in furniture making for prisoners.