{"id":2175,"date":"2013-05-31T09:53:27","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T13:53:27","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2015-05-04T11:17:03","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T15:17:03","slug":"creating-a-pathway-to-reintegration-australian-correctional-services-employment-programs-and-their-connection-to-vet","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cmv-educare.com\/en\/reference-center\/papers-of-the-scientific-committee-members\/creating-a-pathway-to-reintegration-australian-correctional-services-employment-programs-and-their-connection-to-vet\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Pathway to Reintegration: Australian correctional services employment programs and their connection to VET"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor Joe Graffam
\n<\/strong>Pro Vice-Chancellor
\n<\/strong>(Research Development and Training)
\n<\/strong>Deakin University<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Australian Correctional System(s) in Context<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Australia, the number of offenders in correctional institutions in 2011 was 29,106, with a rate of imprisonment of 174 per 100,000 of the adult population (0.11% of the population).<\/p>\n

Over half of prisoners in custody at 30 June, 2011 had previously served a sentence in an adult prison (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011), with 38% of prisoners released from 2006-07 returning to prison, and 45% returning to corrective services (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2011).<\/p>\n

About one quarter of adult prisoners are reconvicted within three months of release, with between 35% and 41% being reimprisoned within two years (Payne, 2007).<\/p>\n

Nationally, approximately 1\/3 of convicted offenders are incarcerated and 2\/3 are serving community based orders<\/p>\n

It has been estimated that between 60% and 70% of offenders are unemployed at time of offence<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prevalence of Indigenous offending<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indigenous people are disproportionately represented in the Australian correctional systems (e.g. ABS 2010; SCRGSP 2011). Currently, Indigenous prisoners represent 28.3% of Australia\u2019s prisoner population (SCRGSP 2011), about 10 times their representation in the Australian general population.<\/p>\n

The rate of imprisonment of Indigenous Australians is much greater than non-Indigenous Australians. The national age standardised imprisonment rate for Indigenous adults is 1,811.1 per 100,000, about 14 times greater than the national rate for non-Indigenous adults at 127.1 per 100,000 (SCRGSP 2011).<\/p>\n

Like their non-Indigenous counterparts, Indigenous offenders are characterised by high rates of repeated short-term incarceration (ABS 2010). There is an over-representation of Indigenous males convicted of a violent crime, with alcohol and substance use linked to this outcome (Willis & Moore 2008) despite lower consumption of alcohol generally.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

VET in the Australian Correctional System(s)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The History of VET in the Australian Correctional \u2018System\u2019<\/p>\n