Prisoner Rehabilitation

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. Can the minister inform the house about the therapeutic and rehabilitative activities the Department for Correctional Services supports offenders with to participate in?

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (14:51): I thank the member for King for her keen interest in this area. We all know that we have a duty—we have a duty that, once prisoners do come into our custody, we have to do everything we can, wherever it's possible, to try to rehabilitate them and turn their lives around. That is why our government is committed to working hard and providing offenders with the rehabilitative support these offenders need to give them the best possible chance of living a healthy, productive life on their release.

We know that many former prisoners face difficulties. They face difficulties before they come into prison but also when seeking employment, including many who suffer from low literacy and numeracy skills, homelessness, addictions and of course potential discrimination from employers as well, particularly where they have had criminal history checks that are required for certain professions. That is why the programs that the Department for Correctional Services runs and offers to offenders are so important, so that we can help these people build the skills, confidence and knowledge that they need to try to succeed in the community, which is very important.

Recently, I was pleased to attend what is called the Road to Redemption program graduation. This course had 11 participants in it. There was a mix of offenders who had served their sentence and some who participated as part of what is called their discharge planning process.

Road to Redemption is a 10-week program and it provides former Aboriginal offenders with the skills and knowledge required to try to find a job—to help find employment in the construction and civil construction industry. Participants were provided with hands-on experience working on a Housing SA property. I am pleased to inform the house that in fact the majority of graduates have secured jobs or job interviews. How good is that? Some of these people, for the first time in a long time, have been able to be provided with the dignity of work with that opportunity. If we can empower these people, if we can get them on the straight and narrow, that is a good thing.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Kathy McKenna from Drug and Alcohol Services SA. Recently, I attended what was I think one of the most fulfilling visits that I have done in my time as a minister whereby I visited The Woolshed in the Adelaide Hills. The Woolshed is a Drug and Alcohol Services therapeutic community facility. It is not the one that the member for Hammond visits for a parmi in Hindley Street. It's a different facility. This Woolshed is a very special facility.

I visited The Woolshed and I do want to thank Kathy McKenna and the team and Director, Craig Minervini. I was able to visit a whole range of people with certain addictions, be they drug addictions, gambling addictions or alcohol addictions. The staff at The Woolshed do a tremendous job in helping to turn these people's lives around. It was a really touching visit. I want to thank not only those people for having the courage to book themselves into that facility but also the staff for the wonderful work they are doing.

It is why our government is assisting where we can at the Adelaide Women's Prison, to help people gain employment skills and experience through things like the award-winning U-Turn Construction Pathways program. As a result of an upgrade of an existing accommodation block at the Adelaide Women's Prison, female prisoners have also had the opportunity to take part in this program, gaining skills and experience on a real construction site.

Of course, there are also the various art programs within the Department for Correctional Services. This year, we had a feature piece in the SALA Festival. This year actually over 80 entries were on display, which represents the largest collection of works from the prison system. I look forward to working with the Department for Correctional Services and Mr Brown and his team as we continue to deliver the next big project, which is actually the full business case for a dedicated rehabilitation prison as we promised in the state budget.