Unfinished business: Koori women and the justice system Page 67

Chapter 6: Koori women's experiences in prison and post release 63

Main findings

· Once Koori women enter the prison system they

are more likely to be re-imprisoned.

· A higher proportion of Koori women are

classified with maximum-security ratings
compared to non-Koori women. This contributes
to under-utilisation of the minimum security
Tarrengower prison.

370

· Generalist services tend not to be used by

Koori women, and there is a lack of culturally
appropriate services in prison for this cohort.
While examples of such services do exist, these
are infrequently run, have eligibility restrictions
and waiting lists.

· Access requirements for prison services

include remand status, sentence length, and
previous completion of prison programs. These
restrictions have a disproportionate affect
on Koori women who are more likely to be in
remand or serving shorter sentences, or have
been in prison before.

· There are some transitional (pre-release)

services that begin in prison and continue to
support people on the outside. However, these
are limited in the support they can offer Koori
women due to restrictions on eligibility for those
on remand.

· There are no culturally and gender appropriate

support services, specifically for Koori women
upon release from prison. This impacts on their
prospects for rehabilitation.

· Upon release from prison, services are

fragmented, under-resourced and hard to
navigate.

· Lack of appropriate housing after prison drives

reoffending. Post-release accommodation is an
urgent priority.

370

State of Victoria, Corrections Victoria, `Transition to
Tarrengower', above n 331, 11.

Koori women's experiences in prison and post-release

Chapter 6: