Prison Officers throughout the state walked off the job when a lenient sentence was handed down to an inmate who had assaulted four staff at Cessnock Correctional Centre.

In February 2025, Cameron Welsh, an inmate with a history of violent offences, assaulted four Correctional Officers at Cessnock. The injuries were severe: all four Officers were hospitalised, with two unlikely to return to work.

While Welsh was convicted of four counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer and “actual bodily harm”, he was sentenced to a three-year community corrections order.

“In essence, he was not going to serve any extra time,” said PSA CPSU NSW President Nicole Jess, herself a Senior Prison Officer. “This deeply upset the brave men and women who staff NSW prisons. Public service matters, and the people who do so much for our state deserve better.”

In response, about 5000 corrective services staff across all 36 NSW state prisons walked off the job in protest. 

The PSA CPSU NSW gained extensive media coverage for the walkoff.

After pressure from the union, the State Government appealed the lenient sentence. In late November, Judge Tim Gartelmann agreed that the original magistrate had erred in her interpretation of the law and “the sentences imposed were an affront to the administration of justice”.

The inmate was sentenced to an additional two years and nine months in prison.