The complex is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the New South Wales Government Department of Communities and Justice.

[citation needed] Inmates are eligible to study for national recognised qualifications including vocation and TAFE courses.

[7] The Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre (MRRC), an Australian maximum security facility for males is located within the complex.

[13] In March, 1999, Russian Australian librarian Lucy Dudko hired a helicopter supposedly to check out the upcoming Olympic site in Sydney.

[14] In 2004, the Independent Commission Against Corruption conducted an investigation at the prison which concluded that mobile phones were becoming a significant security threat in Australian correctional facilities.

[19] In March 1999, inmate John Killick escaped Silverwater Prison via a helicopter that had been hijacked by his partner, Lucy Dudko.