LIMITED COURSES FOR INMATES

THERE are a number of programs to rehabilitate prisoners in Tasmania. Inmates can be directed by a magistrate or judge to undergo these programs or be referred on by custodial officers. However, to be considered, inmates need to have a jail sentence that is long enough to complete the programs.

Programs include rehabilitation at the Apsley Unit and Holyoake’s Gottawanna program. The EQUIPS and Family Violence programs include components on substance use.

Other programs on offer include the Chatter Matters Circle of Security program, a parent-child attachment course, which has been given State Government funding for the coming 12 months. The Tasmania Prison Service is also currently working with TasTAFE and Libraries Tasmania to establish an inmate education program, which will hopefully be operational by mid-2020.

Drug and alcohol counsellors are available at Risdon Prison and Mary Hutchinson Women’s Prison, but the Mercury has been told there can be long waits to see them.

The State Government says a suite of rehabilitation and education programs, including those related to substance abuse, will be available in the Northern Regional Prison once the facility is fully operational.

Court-mandated diversion programs for offenders who receive suspended sentences or community correction orders are also available. These are capped at 120 places statewide, an increase from the previous cap of 80.

Alcoholics Anonymous does not visit the men’s or women’s prisons, although the organisation has attended in the past.

There are no bail hostels or bail facilities in Tasmania. That means when people are going through the justice system, they usually return to the environments and the lifestyles they were in when they committed the crime.

There are no programs for people on remand.