In 2014 the Department of Justice (the Department) announced that Units 11 and 12 of Hakea would be re-purposed into a 256-bed, maximum-security, remand and reintegration facility for women. This became the Melaleuca Remand and Reintegration Facility. Melaleuca began life as a male facility, spent some time as a youth detention centre, and was then converted to a prison for women.
The introduction of Melaleuca as part of the women’s estate was welcome. The then state government outsourced the management of the facility and, following a tender process, Sodexo Australia Pty Ltd (Sodexo) was selected as the contractor to manage the new facility for five years. Melaleuca Remand and Reintegration Facility commenced operations on 15 December 2016. By December 2019, just three years into the contract, Sodexo and the government agreed to end the contract early. The prison transitioned to public management in April 2020 as a dedicated remand facility.