Report recommends closure of Goulburn Correction Centre's maximum security wing

Mr Corcoran was responding to questions in a budget estimates hearing about conditions including outdoor only showers and toilets in communal areas.

Minister for Corrections Geoff Lee had been asked if the facility would meet United Nations standards - after a UN inspection team had been denied entry into a different correctional facility.

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Mr Lee said he had not read the UN standards before Mr Corcoran provided a response that a portion of the facility did not even meet NSW standards.

"We have our own standards and they don't meet those standards. So we're actively pursuing that at the moment," Mr Corcoran said, adding "This is something I'm very concerned about."

Mr Corcoran said he had seen a report from the Inspector of Custodial Services highlighting the facilities as "inadequate".

That report recommends the closure of Goulburn's current maximum security wing.

"The first recommendation of this report is that Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) develop a plan for the closure of Goulburn CC's maximum security accommodation units and yards," Fiona Rafter wrote in her report, dated June of this year.

"This area opened in 1884 making it among the oldest custodial infrastructure still in use in NSW. It is difficult to maintain and operate and it would be impossible to refurbish it to a satisfactory standard.

"I do not make this recommendation lightly and ultimately it is a matter for the NSW Government. However, due to its age, the need to close the maximum security area of Goulburn CC seems inevitable."

Responding to questions from Acting Chair Sue Higginson, Mr Lee said most of the concerns around Goulburn stemmed from its age and agreed that parts of it should be "retired".

"You will understand from such a big system that from time to time you have to retire those old cells and those old facilities that have reached their life expectancy. Some of them should have been retired a lot longer ago, but we will continue to do that," Mr Lee said.

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Commissioner Corcoran said in response to the June report, he had tasked assistant commissioner Leon Taylor with developing a plan to remedy the outdated nature of the facility as one of five jails in NSW classed as "Victorian era".

Mr Corcoran confirmed around 400 inmates were housed currently in the maximum security section.

"That is 400 people being kept in, according to your standards, substandard conditions?" Ms Higgins asked, asking further that the goal was to rehabilitate inmates.

"Yes, it is very, very difficult because those conditions are really not conducive to rehabilitation," Mr Corcoran said.

Mr Corcoran said they took the report "very seriously" and said it was imperative to come up with a strategy to retire aging parts of the facility, while maintaining services and jobs.

"We also need to come up with a solution for that particular facility that enables us to ensure that all the things and all the services we provide at the moment can continue to be provided. That's what I've got Assistant Commissioner Taylor working on right now."

The Goulburn Post sought comment from Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman who provided a brief response, while specific questions were posed to Corrective Services NSW, who declined to comment further.

"Parts of Goulburn Correctional Centre date from the Victorian era which makes implementing contemporary correctional practice more challenging," Mrs Tuckerman said.

"Corrective Services NSW continually seeks to improve security, correctional centre design, access to education and health services, and inmate management in all of its correctional centres.

"Goulburn Correctional Centre provides jobs for local people and CSNSW is committed to its constant improvement."

The Post sought specific response from Corrective Services NSW about any planned timelines of upgrades or refurbishments to the facility.

Though it did not respond, later questioning in the hearing provides some insight.

Assistant Commissioner Leon Taylor said there were more than 12,000 cells across 36 facilities in NSW with a little over half of those having modernised cells.

"We have brand-new beds adjacent to 140-year-old beds, so we have to operate both levels of infrastructure together," Mr Taylor said.

He said both were given the same standards of services and amenity available to inmates.

He said there was a budget of $6million plus a further $2million in the current financial year, which could provide for the modernisation of about 600 cells at a cost of around $15,000 each.

When pressed about a timeline for the remaining modernisation Mr Taylor said "there are around 5500 cells that are between 1880 and the early 2000s ... If all of those needed a full refurb, at 600 a year, that's eight or 10 years, but it's a little more nuanced than that".