Prisoner Art Exhibition

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Correctional Services. Can the minister outline how the Department for Correctional Services has partnered with the Courts Administration Authority to make a positive contribution to the community?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:55): I would like to thank the honourable member for his question. Of course, I can answer his question in some degree of detail because there is some incredibly important work that is currently being jointly undertaken between the Department for Correctional Services and also the Courts Administration Authority in and around prisoner art.

Recently, I had the great pleasure to join Her Honour Justice Vanstone and officially open the prisoner art exhibition at the Sir Samuel Way Building. The prisoner art exhibition is a fantastic opportunity for the Department for Correctional Services, the Courts Administration Authority and prisoners alike to represent the justice sector and what they do to make a positive contribution to our community. The exhibition has more than 100 pieces of art, including paintings, sketches and drawings across the South Australian prison system.

This is the largest exhibition of prisoner art to be gathered in South Australia to this date. The works on display across levels 1 and 3 of the Sir Samuel Way Building are largely paintings and sketches, but you might be surprised to know that a variety of media have been and are currently being practised in prisons, including ceramics, scrapbooking, mosaics, and also collage. The art of prisoners now hangs on the walls of the Sir Samuel Way Building, and I was advised that this is the first art to hang in the courts precinct since 1983, adding some much-needed colour to the walls.

Education and recreation staff at Mobilong, Port Augusta and Mount Gambier prisons and the Cadell Training Centre conduct special art-based programs to provide constructive activities for prisoners. Prisoner art has for a long time been identified as a significant contributor to prisoner rehabilitation. This is particularly relevant when it comes to Indigenous art. Earlier this year, the Adelaide Women's Prison entered into partnership with the Women's Health Service and utilised SA Health grant funding to conduct a successful silk painting program for Aboriginal women.

This project ran for 12 weeks as a culturally specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's arts, health and wellbeing model. This provided opportunities for the women participating in the group sessions to strengthen cultural connections and enhance health and wellbeing through the use of art as a medium. It is fantastic to see some of these silk works turned into prints specifically for the exhibition now on display. Many of the women of this program commented how art was therapeutic and changed them for the better.

Art in prisons has a number of benefits. Prisoner art helps with self-esteem, self-expression and morale and, in some cases, a possible employment option when their prison term ends. Creative expression also assists in learning; it has the potential to lower frustration levels alleviating boredom and aggression, thereby offering an avenue for correctional staff to enhance dynamic security by way of engaging with prisoners in positive ways.

Participation in art programs whilst in prison also helps with fostering creativity, and it encourages new ways of looking at the world and new ways of expression and communication. In turn, this has positive flow-on effects to society in general and the communities in which we live. Individuals find themselves in prison for a number of reasons and usually not just one single reason—societal disadvantage, drug abuse, domestic violence. Many prisoners indeed are victims of crime themselves and I can tell you this in no uncertain terms: prisons are not enjoyable places to be.

Deprivation of liberty is just that: a loss of some extended freedom and personal choice. Art is a way of dealing with what can be an oppressive surrounding. Art is also about dignity. It can be a way of someone saying, 'There is more to me than the crimes I have committed.' In that way, art can be restorative and the beginning of a positive exchange with the community. Exhibitions like the one on display at the Sir Samuel Way Building are a case in point.

I would like to thank all the project team, along with representatives from each of the prisons, for all their hard work in bringing together the wonderful pieces of art on display. I extend my thanks to the Courts Administration Authority for the opportunity for Corrections to display all the wonderful art to the public. I strongly recommend that everybody who is interested in art and, indeed, those who have an interest in prisoner rehabilitation take the opportunity to look at the work.