An inquiry into the operation of the notorious Parklea prison has made damning findings against its private operator.

The jail has been ridden with scandals, with Ray Hadley exposing trafficking of contraband, extreme violence, cover-ups and allegations of widespread corruption at the jail over recent years.

The private operator, GEO Group, has continuously failed to clean up the prison so it comes as no surprise that their contract hasn’t been renewed.

A parliamentary inquiry has been examining issues at the jail in 2017.

Now, a damning report has found the disgraced operator failed in their duty to address problems at the prison, including the smuggling of drugs and weapons as well as assaults.

NSW Corrections Minister David Elliott tells Luke Grant there was “clearly a systematic problem with Parklea”.

“I think that you can bring the inquiry’s recommendations and findings down to one thing and that was a failure of leadership.

“It’s important for your listeners to know that the company that were running the prison since 2009 – since it was privatised by the former Labor minister – are no longer going to be running it after next year.”

Click PLAY for the full interview