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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-02-14 Daily Xml
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Adelaide Women's Prison

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:34): My question is to the Minister for Correctional Services. Can the minister inform the council as to how women are learning new skills and assisting in the construction of new accommodation at the Adelaide Women's Prison?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:35): Again, I would like to thank the Hon. Mr Kandelaars for another outstanding question. I always acknowledge his outstanding contribution in this place. Earlier this month, I got to see firsthand the great work of one partnership between DCS and its partners in private enterprise, where offenders at Adelaide Women's Prison (AWP) are gaining construction qualifications through a hands-on project to upgrade the prison's main accommodation block.

Ten prisoners are working alongside Mossop Construction and Interiors and TAFE SA to upgrade accommodation facilities which have been largely untouched since the 1960s. The initiative aims to increase the future employment prospects of offenders, with the training and qualifications providing potential pathways into a range of roles within the construction industry.

Thirty-two women applied to be on the program and went through a rigorous assessment, including that the women had to be residing at the living skills unit (a regime-managed location based on good behaviour), be long-term sentence prisoners or remand prisoners, have negative drug tests, have a history of good behaviour for the last six months, and agree to the rules and responsibilities set out in the employment contract.

Ten women were then selected to participate in the project, which provides them with the opportunity to earn a nationally accredited qualification in building and construction and a White Card, which enables them to work on construction sites once released. We know that employment is a critical factor to the successful rehabilitation of offenders. It provides dignity, financial independence and a life away from crime.

The government set an ambitious target to reduce reoffending by 10 per cent by 2020, and increasing employment opportunities for ex-offenders is key to achieving this target. Employment opportunities were also a key recommendation of the Strategic Policy Panel, so it is very pleasing to see the department and its partners develop such programs that are readily translatable to employment pathways outside of the prison gate.

I had the enormous privilege of visiting these women in conjunction with Mossop Construction. Of course, the women who are in this program, we should remember, have done something wrong, hence they are in custody, but the effort and the act of trying to rehabilitate themselves in a way that is part of the private sector I think speaks to exactly what it is that we are trying to achieve in Corrections, with men and women in our system who genuinely want to turn their lives around so that when they are released—which they almost always are—they can make a positive contribution to society, and that is very good thing.

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