Cooma Correctional Centre

Cooma Correctional Centre is a minimum- and medium-security facility located 1 hour's drive south of Canberra, 410km from Sydney.

Phone

(02) 6455 0333 
Fax: (02) 6455 0391

Street address

1 Vale Street
Cooma NSW 2630

Postal address

Locked Mailbag 7
Cooma NSW 2630

How to get there

Public transport

Rail and bus services are available. For more information see Regional Trains and Coaches. 

Private transport

Parking is available at the centre.

Visitor information

Bookings

Bookings for video and in-person visits are required before your visit can proceed. All bookings can be made online through JUST Connect.

If this is your first time visiting an inmate, please email Cooma.Visits@justice.nsw.gov.au and an application form for a Visitor Identification Number (VIN) will be sent to you via return email.

Bookings close at midday on Friday for the upcoming weekend.

Visit times

Before travelling to the centre for an in person visit, please call to confirm your visit and visiting time.

New COVID-safety measures apply to in-person visits, ensure you know the rules to avoid missing out.

In-person visit times

In-person visits take place on Saturday and Sunday (no Public Holidays)

• Area 1: 8:30am to 11:30am and 12:30pm to 3:00pm
• Area 2: 9:00am to 11:30am and 12:30 to 3:00pm
  

All visitors are requested to arrive at least 15 minutes before the time booked and to be considerate of other booked visits.

Legal visits

Legal practitioners may visit From Monday to Friday between 9am and 3pm. Please provide notification of your intention to visit by telephoning the centre on (02) 6455 0333 or by writing to the General Manager.

Conditions of entry

Appropriate dress standards

The visits area is a family environment. You must dress appropriately. This generally means clothes must be respectable and not too provocative.

You cannot wear anything that hides your face, except for religious reasons. In that case you will be asked to remove your face covering temporarily so staff can verify your identity.

Inappropriate dress (PDF, 419.1 KB) includes:

• Clothes that have possibly controversial logos, words or slogans such as:
  
  • Motorcycle gang 'colours' or gang insignias
    
  • Logos or symbols associated with drugs or drug paraphernalia o Swear words
    
• Tight or revealing clothing including:
  
  • Tops and dresses that expose the stomach or chest
    
  • Swimsuits or Skirts or shorts shorter than mid-thigh
    
  • Mesh or other "see-through" clothes
    
  • Clothes that are excessively dirty, ripped or frayed
    
• Heels higher than 5 centimetres
  
• Any jewellery other than a plain wedding band, sleepers and studs. This means no engagement ring or any other ring with stones, and no bracelets or necklaces
  
• Tops or jumpers with a hood
  
• Hats, scarves or head coverings (excluding religious wear)
  
• Hair scrunchies or clips. Only single elasticated hair ties are allowed
  
• Watches, smart watches or activity trackers
  
• Bare feet.
  

General conditions

• Leave personal property and valuables at home. These are not permitted into the centre.
• Please complete a 'Green Slip' before proceeding to the visits processing counter.
  
• Any person who enters the centre may be subject to a search with a metal detector. Failure to comply with any directions may result in your visit being denied.
  
• Please make sure you have suitable identification. This means one photo ID (e.g. a driver's license or passport) and one secondary ID (e.g. a birth certificate or marriage certificate).
  

Museum

The Corrective Services NSW Museum at Cooma is open Saturday to Thursday (closed Friday) from 8:30am to 3:00pm. A living museum, it employs select inmates as tour guides, sales assistants, collection managers and craft manufacturers. Please visit this page to learn more about the museum.

Concerns about inmate health

You can contact us if you are worried about the health of a family member or friend in custody.

General concerns

If you want to give us mental health information only, call Justice Health NSW Mental Health Helpline on 1800 222 472 – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you want to give information about mental or physical health, or have concerns about access to medication, you can:

• call Justice Health NSW on (02) 9700 3000 between 8:00am to 4:00pm
• email JHFMHN-clo@health.nsw.gov.au.

Find out more about the Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network (Justice Health NSW).

Urgent concerns

If you want to give us urgent or important information so that we can take immediate action for your family member or friend, call the correctional centre on (02) 6455 0333.

Urgent information about your family member or friend might include:

• risks to self, e.g. thoughts of self-harm, thoughts of suicide
• risks to others, e.g. thoughts of harm to others
• acute medical concerns, e.g. heart attack.