Degrees of punishment

Green, blue and red computers ... The labyrinthine path to education in pokey ... Patchwork arrangements that freeze out prisoners from getting a degree or certificate ... Dark age policy that keeps felons in their place ... Veronica Lenard reports 

Bookworm in the can

Justice Action, an outfit lobbying for prison reform, wants the barriers to education for inmates dismantled. 

For large swathes of the prison population across Australia, access to education is impossible because of restrictions on internet access. 

Technology is a key driver of education, yet even controlled internet access is out of reach for prisoners. 

Long time prison reform activist Brett Collins says correspondence courses that were accessible in prisons 10 years ago are now unavailable  because computers are not permitted in cells where inmates spend the majority of their time.

According to a RAND study conducted ten years ago, individuals who participated in education programs had a 43% lower chance of recidivism compared to non-participants. 

The same research suggested that former prisoners who had taken educational courses while serving their sentences had improved chances of employment on release. 

Other benefits are well recognised - including, improvement of physical and mental wellbeing, reduction of substance abuse, and personal development. 

Education is a passport out of a life trapped by misadventure and misfortune, yet access to it in prisons varies significantly across Australia. 

Justice Action surveyed 160 prisoners in July, asking about the availability and delivery of educational opportunities while doing time. 

In the 30 responses received, respondents described having limited access to TAFE or university courses, including short courses with a focus on practical skills, with the level of access available varying from state to state. 

Recurring challenges included limited resources, staff shortages, prolonged delays, and limited access to information about the courses available.

Prisoners described difficulties seeking approvals, with requests ignored or met with hostile attitudes by the screws. 

In New South Wales, a labyrinthine approval system has left Cody Ward, in jail for drug offences, unable to attend university online or have access to a laptop and email even if approval to study is granted. 

His complaints and blizzard of letters have so far failed to achieve a favourable result. 

Cody with car

Ward pointed out in a letter to the Director of Parliamentary Executive Services that without a laptop and an email account study university would be impossible because the teaching institutions have their courses online for remote students. 

Access to technology varies between institutions and across states and territories, with some prisons allowing daily or weekly access to education facilities such as libraries, while others offered limited access in cells - often at an additional cost. 

Corrective Services NSW policy looks encouraging, declaring that access to computers may be provided for education, employment, or the preparation of legal materials, with exceptions requiring further approval. 

There is the usual bureaucratic double-talk when it comes to distance learning at tertiary institutions: 

"Inmates may be eligible to participate in tertiary courses provided by external education institutions. A course enrolment must be supported in an inmate's case plan. Inmates in NSW correctional centres do not have access to the internet which greatly restricts the delivery of distance education courses and the inmate's ability to undertake research. 

"Some courses and subjects are not available as they require special equipment or field work. Inmates are required to contribute towards the costs of their study." 

Computer access is sorted into three tiers: green computers, which are connected to the Offender Access to Computer Network for education and employment; blue computers, which are not connected to the network and used for viewing and preparing legal documents; and red computers, which are also non-network and used for employment. 

In a letter to Justice Action another NSW prisoner said had taken "three years of persistent nagging and requesting" to be enrolled in a degree course. 

The prisoner was not permitted to submit their own work, which had to be done by a prison officer.

"As helpful as it would be to have a computer in my cell the idea of it becoming real is totally laughable. There is no push here to educate inmates. This is sadly a common feature across most NSW maximum security jails and I know this to be true because I have been to most of them." 

Now enrolled in an extra degree, this prisoner says: "Education is vital to promote rehabilitation and to help prevent recidivism but it seems to be an afterthought." 

Corrective Services NSW has a 14-page document with a lot of painful detail about its restrictive computer policy, yet not much on technology that can restrict access to prescribed sites and email addresses. 

A respondent from a Victorian prison described that some educational courses could only be partially finished, with no information or support provided for their completion upon release. 

Corrections Victoria says that while the range of programs offered vary in each prison, they are "structured to ensure prisoners are able to continue their course as they move through the prison system". 

Respondents in some South Australian prisons described how paid employment was incentivised over educational opportunities through wages and improved housing.

The South Australian prisons department claims that: 

"Education services are prioritised to those who are assessed as having the greatest need." 

Some prisoners in Queensland and Tasmania reported being able to obtain degrees through the University of Southern Queensland and the University of Tasmania. 

According to Brett Collins the patchwork arrangement where some inmates can fluke access and complete tertiary education is not acceptable: 

"Prisoners across Australia have found it impossible to access education courses to develop and use their time productively. This failure blocks their sense of hope for an improved future after release."