Sam looks on the bright side of life in long correctional career

Upfront she will introduce herself to inmates as "your friendly Uber driver." Other times she will break into song - 'What will you do if I sing out of tune'? or tell them she "loves a captive audience."

"It puts them at ease," Sam said.

"I find my bit of madness works for me. I'm known as the crazy one."

But she also knows when to be firm. Simple philosophies of mutual respect and "being friendly but not friends" have guided her through 33 years of service.

She is one of 10,700 Corrective Services NSW staff being honoured on National Corrections Day, Friday, January 19, for her "commitment to community safety and reducing re-offending."

Born and raised at Crookwell, she initially worked at the town's pharmacy. Later she became a wool classer and married a farmer.

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But in 1990, amid drought and high interest rates, Sam joined Corrective Services to supplement farm income. The shift work allowed her to manage the farm and children and fetch a "man's wage."

Her first posting was Goulburn jail.

"I thought I'd stay 12 months to pay off the house and get through the drought," she said.

"But I love the excitement. You never know what's going to happen from one minute to the next."

Sam has endured her share of challenges. A spate of murders inside Goulburn jail in the 1990s earned it the name 'The Killing Fields.'

In 1993, authorities foiled an escape by some of the prison's more "notorious" inmates.

When she started, Sam said there were very few female officers.

"At first women were not really welcome in male jails but over time I've seen such a shift with numbers and opportunities for females. It is very equal," she said.

In 2003 Sam was one of the few women appointed a weapons instructor.

In 1994 she transferred to the 'court escort security unit' before gaining a promotion to work at Berrima jail. She subsequently spent 13 years at Grafton prison before transferring back to Goulburn in 2012. Since then she has been transporting prisoners as part of a 10-member unit. The role takes her between Goulburn, Junee, Cooma and Sydney.

Often the drivers are newly convicted inmates' first brush with the correctional system. In country communities there's also a chance officers' know the prisoners.

"I'm proud to say that in 33-years of service, I've never had to cross the road to avoid anyone, which reflects my professionalism and boundaries with inmates - we're 'friendly but not friends'," Sam said.

"Custodial staff know inmates well and they rely upon us. There are times when former inmates ring through to the wing late at night seeking someone who knows them, who they can talk to when times are tough."

She also identifies strongly with the LGBTQI and Aboriginal communities and says Corrective Services is today a "much more inclusive organisation that values diversity."

Sam said she enjoyed the camaraderie between staff and the knowledge that each one was looking out for others' safety.

In more recent time, she's endured a cancer battle, during which she said the department was very supportive. Now she has the all clear and has no plans to leave her role just yet.

"I'll probably do this until I can no longer get out of the truck," Sam said.

"...It suits my personality. I can be crazy one minute, serious the next, or empathetic. The role requires all different emotions."

"...I think if I wasn't doing this, I'd probably be running my own pub in some sleepy coastal town."