HM Prison Fairlea
| Location | Fairfield, Victoria |
|---|---|
| Status | Closed, demolished |
| Security class | Minimum & Maximum security |
| Capacity | 60 (1956–1982); 106 (1986–1996) |
| Opened | March 9, 1956 |
| Closed | 1996 |
| Managed by | Department of Corrections |
Coordinates: 37°47′27″S 145°00′38″E / 37.79082°S 145.010637°E
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 1982 a deliberately lit fire led to the deaths of three inmates. The rebuilt and expanded prison reopened in 1986. After closing in 1996 due to privatisation of sections of the prison system, Fairlea was demolished and the site converted to parkland.
In the 1950s, the Victorian Government committed to building the state's first all-female prison. The site chosen on National Park Road (now Yarra Bend Road), Fairfield included the grounds and structures of the former Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum and Fairhaven Venereal Disease Clinic, many of which were converted for prison use. Prior to the opening of Fairlea, female prisoners had been held in a small section Pentridge Prison. Fairlea's grounds and buildings were more spacious than those of the female unit at Pentridge; however many of the buildings were unsatisfactory, dating from the site's time as an asylum in the 1860s.
In January 1980 prisoners staged a riot in the mess hall where furniture and crockery was smashed and fittings ripped from kitchen walls. During the incident four prisoners took advantage of the diversion and climbed through smashed windows onto the roof. At 2.00 am prisoners set alight toilet paper in two bathrooms at either end of two adjoining dormitories. Prisoners from two dormitories were locked in the mess hall during the blaze. Firemen, prison officers and a few inmates soon controlled the fire.
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