The Queensland Government has announced plans to open the first training prison of its kind to help ease critical jail overcrowding across the state.

The $145 million plan will see the old Borallon Correctional Centre west of Ipswich recommissioned and turned into an "earn or learn" facility, catering specifically for 18 to 30-year-old inmates.

The latest departmental figures show there has been a 30 per cent increase in prisoner numbers since 2012 and every male prison in the state is now overcrowded.

Corrections Minister Jo-Ann Miller said the prison was necessary and would house about an extra 500 prisoners.

"The prisons are currently operating at about 112 per cent and with the opening of the Borallon centre it will come down to 98 per cent occupancy," she said.

"We want prisoners using their time productively so that they can learn to read or write and finish grade 12, undertake a certificate or diploma level qualification so that when they get out they will be job ready.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 2 minutes 58 seconds 2 m 58 s Queensland to open the state's first training prison to reduce overcrowding ( Elise Worthington ) Download 5.4 MB

"We are also hoping to be able to work with the local schools, certainly TAFE and any suitable registered training organization as well as perhaps the universities."

Those working on the front line with prisoners said while they believed the plan was a step in the right direction, more needed to be done to address the root causes of incarceration.

Queensland Catholic prison ministry coordinator Dave Martin said having young prisoners housed together was a good idea in theory.

"It sounds like young people in prison who have never been in before, for a start it might make their experiences less traumatic, however I'm not convinced that that is entirely a good model," he said.

"You find that 'lifers' and people that have done a long time in prison can actually act as peacekeepers in some cases."

'Doubling up' inmates puts vulnerable at risk

In Queensland prisons there are currently more than 1,400 prisoners sharing cells.

Mr Martin regularly visits inmates in overcrowded prisons, and said prisoners "doubling up" puts vulnerable inmates at risk.

Corrections Minister Jo-Ann Miller said she did not want inmates "sitting around playing cards". ( Supplied: Queensland Government )

"The human side of doubling up is what isn't being reported on. A young fellow at one of the prisons had been doubled up for 12 months with another prisoner and reported that he'd been sexually abused every night for those 12 months," Mr Martin said.

"The answer isn't building another prison because if we build another prison they'll fill it, not only will they fill it but it will stay full.

"What needs to be done is look at the reasons why we had such a vast increase."

Ms Miller said the Government was hoping the prison would provide an opportunity for young people to be able to turn their lives around.

"If a judge sentences someone to jail then that's exactly where they go, but I don't want them sitting around playing cards," she said.

"Once you are inside those walls you will be given the opportunity of working in a prison industry or learning on the job, learning in the classroom so when you are released you can go back out into society as a better person."

The State Government said it was still continuing to engage with researchers, correctional services and community contacts to deliver a full response to the overcrowding problem.

Borallon prison is due to reopen in mid-2016.