Rubbish removed from the waterways includes used gas bottles, drink cans and plastic bags.
Prison inmates in Sydney’s southwest have removed more than 630 tonnes of rubbish from the area’s waterways, performing a valuable community service and helping the environment.
Director for Community Corrections, Sydney South West, Kate Byrne announced the feat saying three supervised groups of offenders perform more than 1,000 hours of work for the community each week, removing rubbish from sites in the Georges River catchment area, which stretches from Botany Bay to Campbelltown and Fairfield.
Ms Byrne, said the rubbish removal program gave offenders the opportunity to develop a social conscience while helping the community and the environment.
“We’ve had a strong partnership over the past six years with volunteer organisation Georges Riverkeeper which works to protect the health of the waterways,” Ms Byrne said.
“During that time our teams have removed more than 630 tonnes of rubbish from litter hotspots,” she said.
“These offenders are making a valuable contribution to the community by performing work that wouldn’t otherwise be done and removing bagfuls of rubbish from the river and its surrounds.”
She said that as part of the relationship with Georges Riverkeeper, supervised teams of around 12 offenders conducted regular rubbish removal at more than 200 sites across the catchment.
She said the sites were known litter hotspots or areas where rubbish collected in mangrove forests, saltmarshes or reed beds.
Minister for Corrections, Anthony Roberts said that helping not-for-profit organisations strengthened offenders’ ties with their communities and increased their chances of successful reintegration.
“The NSW Government has committed $330 million to reducing reoffending and the work of our Community Corrections staff is vital to that,” Mr Roberts said.
“This work is improving the quality of these waterways – and that’s a really positive thing for these offenders to achieve, knowing that they’re giving something back to the environment and their community,” he said.
Manager of Georges Riverkeeper, Beth Salt said the removal of rubbish helped protect vital ecological communities and restore the functions of a healthy river.
“Partnering with Corrective Services NSW allows us to have a much greater impact on the health of the river, specifically on the amount of gross pollutants within the river system,” Ms Salt said.
