Ravenhall prison officer stood down for allegedly withholding food from Aboriginal prisoner

A prison officer at Victoria’s largest prison has been stood down pending allegations that he failed to provide food to an Aboriginal prisoner.

The prisoner at the privately run Ravenhall Correctional Centre, a 1,300-bed medium-security men’s prison on the outskirts of Melbourne and operated by GEO Australia, was allegedly not provided with dinner after he was moved from his usual cell to an isolation cell.

Guardian Australia understands the man informed the prison officer before he was moved that he had not yet had dinner, and was told he would be brought food in the isolation cell.

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He did not receive food until the guard shift changed two hours later, and he told the incoming officers that he still had not been given dinner.

The prison officer was stood down the following day.

In a statement, GEO Australia said a staff member at the prison had been “suspended from duty pending an outcome of an investigation into a possible breach of GEO’s Code of Conduct”.

“GEO has a strong code of conduct in relation to basic human rights and prisoner welfare and has a zero tolerance policy in relation to proven breaches of its code,” a spokesman said.

“GEO recognises the needs of all prisoner groups and treats all prisoners with dignity and respect. As the investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Neither GEO Australia nor Corrections Victoria, the state body that has responsibility for the welfare of inmates in Victoria, would comment on the record about what the officer was alleged to have done.

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“We expect all correctional staff to act to the highest standards at all times and that any allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated,” a government spokeswoman said.

GEO Australia operates four private prisons, including Ravenhall and Fulham in Victoria, and a post-release facility.

The $670m Ravenhall prison opened in 2017 and is expected to cost the Victorian government $6.3bn to operate over the life of the 25-year contract.

It was built in an attempt to manage Victoria’s skyrocketing prison population and GEO Group can receive up to $2m in annual bonuses if it meets targets to reduce recidivism, including a target to reduce the recidivism of Aboriginal prisoners by 14%.

The Andrews government announced last year that it would spend another $1.8bn on prison upgrades including a new maximum-security prison north of Geelong.