Two Corrections Victoria staff have been awarded the Australian Corrections Medal in recognition of their years of dedication to corrections.
Maria Fazio and Teu Bentley were presented with their medals by the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, at a special ceremony at Government House today.
Ms Fazio joined Corrections Victoria in 1992 and has been employed in a range of roles across the Community Correctional Services division.
Her current role is Manager Court Practice at Sunshine Community Correctional Services, where she leads a team of staff that perform a range of duties to ensure offenders complete their court orders.
Ms Bentley started as a prison officer in 1984, where she was employed at the state’s first all-female prison, Fairlea.
She has been based at the Melbourne Assessment Prison since 1996, where she has mainly worked in a dedicated unit for prisoners who require mental health treatment.
Ms Bentley has also been an active member of the Female Leadership Team during her time at the Melbourne Assessment Prison.
The Australian Corrections Medal has been awarded to operational members of the adult corrections system since 2017.
It is part of the Australian system of honours and awards, which recognise citizens for excellence, achievement or meritorious service and contributions to society.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Corrections Ben Carroll
“Both Maria and Teu have worked tirelessly for decades to keep the community safe, these awards are extremely well deserved.”
“Thousands of dedicated men and women go to work at our prisons and community correctional offices across the state every day to help offenders break the cycle of re-offending to keep the community safe.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020