October 2007
Corrections NEWS
Leaders in corrections: Partners
in criminal and social justice
Inside
Offender Reintegration Support Service
Bowen Women’s Work Camp
Lower Gulf and Cape York
Megan’s Law debate
Fast News
Contents
Message from the Minister...4 Bowen Women’s Work Camp....5 Message from the Director-General...6 Megan’s Law debate...7
Lotus Glen graduation...8 Staff Profile...9 Offender Reintegration Support Service ...10 Fast news…11– 12 Perspectives…12
Front cover: Clockwise from top left, Lotus Glen Correctional Centre graduates during their training; Transitions coordinators and service providers during training;
Lotus Glen Correctional Centre graduates; Woodford’s market garden
Woodford’s garden produces food, training and jobs
A Woodford Correctional Centre Trade Instructor’s resourceful idea to
build a vegetable garden for prisoners to work, is proving its worth,
not only as a source of quality fresh produce, but also as a rehabilitative tool.
Officers and prisoners built 16 garden beds during winter last year and
have since planted a range of fruit and vegetables to research what
grows best.
The garden currently supplies a range of produce to the centre’s kitchen
including zucchinis, parsley, spring onions, cucumbers and herbs.
A group of six prisoners from the centre’s residential section are
employed in the garden and can also take freshly harvested produce
back to their small unit kitchens.
Scraps from the prison’s kitchen and sawdust from industry workshops
is collected and composted for use in the garden as part of the
project.
The project was the idea of Landscaping Trade Instructor Barry Maguire
in response to a call from General Manager Greg Howden to find more
projects to keep the centre’s more than 900 prisoners busy.
Barry said most prisoners working in the garden were also undertaking
horticulture, landscaping or general construction trade certificates
through Vocational Eduction and Training (VET) programs and
Integrated VET.
“We’ve had good cooperation between trade instructors and TAFE
tutors, so prisoners have been able to combine elements from various
courses to complete their certificates,” he said.
“In particular, TAFE tutors David Quigley and John Fallon and
Trade Instructor Arthur Palk have made sure the garden is used
productively.
“Their efforts have paid-off, with one of our recently-released gardeners
now working in the community as a landscaper.”
“We hope to build more garden beds in other areas of the centre so
more prisoners can participate,” Barry said.
The garden was constructed with assistance from Prison Industries,
including special design features which allow for quick dismantling
should any security issues arise in the area.
“Industries also designed and manufactured a cover system which
keeps the local wild ducks at bay,” Barry said.
Woodford Correctional Centre Custodial Correctional Officer Greg Wills with produce from
the centre’s garden
“Our next challenge is to catch the errant hare who’s been sampling
our crops.”
INDEX PAGE
Deadline:
CORRECTIONS News is published monthly by Queensland Corrective Services for its staff and stakeholders.
The next issue will be distributed on November 12. Deadline for contributions is October 25.
Please send material to the Media and Communications Unit, GPO Box 1054, Brisbane, 4001 or [email protected].
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forms are available on the Intranet or from media unit staff.
Contacts:
Editor Peter O’Halloran phone 3405 5391 Peter.O’[email protected]
Contributors Carly Wood phone 3405 5386 [email protected]; Ben Toussaint 3405 5392 [email protected];
Vanessa Young phone 3405 5390 [email protected]; Sharna Liddle phone 3405 5387 [email protected]
Electronic versions of Corrections News are available to QCS staff via the Intranet or to the general public via the Internet at www.correctiveservices.qld.gov.au. Please advise the Media
and Communications Unit at [email protected] if you would prefer a monthly electrionic reminder directing you to the online version.
Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Queensland Corrective Services. No article may be reproduced in full or in part without the permission of the Editor.
Page / CN October 2007
Mt Isa Probation and Parole Officer Len Morrissey, left, and Programs Officer Nick
Henningsen, right, with Doomadgee Police Senior Constable Tracey Ring
Partners in justice, from left, Mt Isa Community Justice Group Coordinator
Noel Sarmardin, Mt Isa Probation and Parole District Manager Claire Walker,
Magistrate Wendy Cull and Probation and Parole Supervisor Brett Wilson
Building links to remote communities
Correctional officers have travelled to remote northern Queensland
Indigenous communities to hear first-hand how Queensland Corrective
Services (QCS) can better work with, and serve, those areas.
Three recent trips by custodial and Probation and Parole staff to the
Lower Gulf and Cape York were part of the Agency’s ongoing community
engagement activities and efforts to improve its throughcare
services.
Officers travelled from Lotus Glen and Townsville correctional centres
and Probation and Parole offices in Cairns and Mt Isa.
Joining the northern staff from Central Office were Probation and
Parole Assistant Director-General Peter Camden, Intelligence and
Investigations Executive Director Terry Ryan and Throughcare Manager
Alicia Eugene.
Discussions centred on the reintegration of newly-released prisoners,
the prisons being built in Townsville and the expansion of Probation
and Parole services in the region.
Mt Isa Probation and Parole District Manager Claire Walker joined one
of the community engagement tours.
She knows the challenges of the region well and said that establishing
meaningful community service projects in remote communities was an
essential element in successful through-care.
“Quality long-term community service projects help to develop an
offender’s skills and have great benefits for the whole community,”
Claire said.
“The community leaders we met were very enthusiastic to work with
QCS staff and reap benefits for their residents.”
“Each community listed the trade skills that were in short supply in
their area, showed us their existing infrastructure and talked about
potential community projects they thought were important.”
Developing better links between custodial centres and remote
communities was also an important aspect of the meetings.
Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre Assistant General Manager
Sally Gray and Townsville Correctional Centre Cultural Liaison Officer
Eddie Albert were part of two recent trips to the Gulf.
“These skills will help offenders and their families, but we also need
support from within the communities.
“Some of them showed us old vegetable gardens and orchards that
badly needed skilled labour and enthusiasm to bring them back to
life.
“They agreed, if we could teach women basic horticultural skills, the
communities could work with Probation and Parole officers to ensure
the gardens became quality community service projects benefiting the
entire community,” Sally said.
Most community leaders said welders and metal workers were needed
to help build and maintain infrastructure and to fill jobs at local mines
and other businesses.
“If QCS incorporates these needs in its planning of prison industries
and vocational education, we should be able to teach prisoners
useful trade skills and improve the effectiveness of our through-care
services,” Sally said.
Other items discussed included: the expanded use of video
conferencing between prisoners approaching release and their
communities; the expansion of Townsville Men’s Correctional Centre;
Advance2work, and; possible new sites for Probation and Parole
offices.
Other officers who have travelled to the region recently include:
from Lotus Glen Correctional Centre, General Manager Alan Farrell,
Accommodation Manager Doug Vidler and ATSI Family Support
Officer Wayne Grogan; from Townsville Correctional Centre, Cultural
Development Officer Dean Saunders, Offender Development Manager
Kristine Winter and Cultural Liaison Officer Betty Smith, and; Probation
and Parole Far-Northern Regional Manager Bill Jeffery.
The areas visted included Doomadgee, Lockhart River, Mornington
Island, Kowanyama, Aurukun, Lockhart River, Hope Vale, Napranum,
Mapoon and Torres Strait.
Visits are planned for later this year to Palm Island.
INDEX PAGE
Sally has been planning for next year’s opening of the new Townsville
women’s prison. She tabled several proposals during the tours for
discussion with Elders and Justice Groups.
Sally said both groups were important partners in the reintegration of
prisoners after their release.
“Once released, female prisoners invariably assume the roll of primary
care-givers for their families,” she said.
“We are planning to teach female prisoners about healthy living,
including nutrition, growing fresh food, cooking on a budget and
catering for large groups.
Probation and Parole Officer Nev
Walker with Court Depositions
Clerk Rosita Wade at Normanton
CN October 2007 / Page