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I am raising this issue in the hope that sharing my story will spark change in the future. I am currently incarcerated in NSW. I’ve been in and out of prison ever since trying ice when I was 23 years old. I am now 29 years old.
I’ve been to seven different prisons in the last six years of my life, so far. The reason why I say “so far” is because, based on the current prison and justice system, I not only believe that I have a high chance of ending up back in prison in the future but also know for a fact that my current sentence here has physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausted me. It has gotten to the point where my mind has now accepted this place as my home and I don’t think I will be able to function as a normal person on the outside ever again.
I have pushed every single person who loves me and cares about me away due to my drug addiction and mental health problems. This has ultimately contributed to me being homeless and having no support systems or people in the outside world that I can truly depend on. I am now what society would call institutionalised.
I can still remember thinking to myself before the very first time I went to prison, “I am tired of living my life in fear, sleeping on the streets and depending on the generosity and kindness of complete strangers to get by.”
So I literally did a petty crime on purpose, just so I could have a safe place to rest and some food to eat. It meant that I had to sacrifice my freedom for it – but it already felt like I was a prisoner of my own mind.
I know you may be thinking, “Surely there are better ways of handling situations like homelessness and drug addiction.” But, honestly, I felt like I tried everything a person in my position could have possibly done at the time.
Obviously, I wouldn’t have put myself in prison on purpose if I had felt like there was a better way, if I could have instead sought some sort of support from a prison prevention service which offered a stable living environment and food for people in that situation. I think that there still aren’t even any available services like that in this day and age, whose purpose is solely focused on preventing prison time and/or reoffending amongst individuals – at least not where I’m from anyway. The current government seems more committed to locking people up and keeping them locked up rather than offering support services for people to avoid prison time or to help people get out of prisons and reintegrate them back into the community.
I am raising this issue in the hope that sharing my story will spark change in the future. I am currently incarcerated in NSW. I’ve been in and out of prison ever since trying ice when I was 23 years old. I am now 29 years old.
I’ve been to seven different prisons in the last six years of my life, so far. The reason why I say “so far” is because, based on the current prison and justice system, I not only believe that I have a high chance of ending up back in prison in the future but also know for a fact that my current sentence here has physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausted me. It has gotten to the point where my mind has now accepted this place as my home and I don’t think I will be able to function as a normal person on the outside ever again.
I have pushed every single person who loves me and cares about me away due to my drug addiction and mental health problems. This has ultimately contributed to me being homeless and having no support systems or people in the outside world that I can truly depend on. I am now what society would call institutionalised.
I can still remember thinking to myself before the very first time I went to prison, “I am tired of living my life in fear, sleeping on the streets and depending on the generosity and kindness of complete strangers to get by.”
So I literally did a petty crime on purpose, just so I could have a safe place to rest and some food to eat. It meant that I had to sacrifice my freedom for it – but it already felt like I was a prisoner of my own mind.
I know you may be thinking, “Surely there are better ways of handling situations like homelessness and drug addiction.” But, honestly, I felt like I tried everything a person in my position could have possibly done at the time.
Obviously, I wouldn’t have put myself in prison on purpose if I had felt like there was a better way, if I could have instead sought some sort of support from a prison prevention service which offered a stable living environment and food for people in that situation. I think that there still aren’t even any available services like that in this day and age, whose purpose is solely focused on preventing prison time and/or reoffending amongst individuals – at least not where I’m from anyway. The current government seems more committed to locking people up and keeping them locked up rather than offering support services for people to avoid prison time or to help people get out of prisons and reintegrate them back into the community.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to give a hall pass to crime or justify criminal behaviour. I am merely trying to shed light from a personal perspective on an extremely important issue we have here in this supposedly “lucky country” (Australia).
It is even more unlucky for First Nations Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We only have an Indigenous population of around 3 per cent out of around 26 million people. But we make up a staggering of 33 per cent of people incarcerated in juvenile and prison systems in Australia. That’s an alarming amount of our mob who are continually discriminated against and controlled by the system. I mean, c’mon now! Aren’t these statistics enough evidence that just proves that this system is completely unfair and unjust? It’s been like this for a long time now.
Don’t you think that our own government would want to at least try to implement a different way of handling this by now? I mean, are they truly invested in Closing the Gap and wanting to stop history repeating itself? Isn’t it ironic how they must think that we’re the crazy ones, yet the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome.
It’s time for us as people to speak up about this hidden agenda of suppressing and isolating not just Indigenous people in prison systems around the country but also the disadvantaged.
It’s time we unite to fix a broken system. This is a failing system – an unnecessary, inhumane, unbeneficial form of ancient punishment. It is not helping anybody – if anything, it’s making broken people even more broken – and it’s tearing families apart. Enough is enough.
Instead of putting the billions of dollars – yes, I said “billions”, Google it (if you can) – on better things such as health, education, housing, rehab and prison prevention and reintegration services, to name a few, all would help prevent people from getting locked up in the first place and/or reoffending once released.
What we are in desperate need of is more help and understanding, rather than judgement and punishment.
People in prisons around the nation have already suffered enough for our own mistakes, and most of us continue to suffer long past prison times. Prisons do make us feel like we aren’t worthy of forgiveness or acceptance from society.
Even if or when we do eventually get out of prison, we have missed out on a whole lot and have to start all over again. We are constantly trying to play catch up with the rest of the world, struggling to fit in.
We’ve been locked up for so long, with little to no real-life education courses or programs to do in prisons, we leave with no workplace experience, skills or qualifications to even attempt to be a part of this invisible void that consumes us – and so it brings us back home … to prison. In prison, at least we have a sense of belonging and equality because, sadly, it’s all we’ve grown to know.
As human beings, we all just want to feel valued and appreciated. We all long for love and acceptance. But if society wants people in prison to feel like we don’t belong or to be continually ostracised for our past mistakes, then why would anyone in their right mind want to be a part of that society?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to give a hall pass to crime or justify criminal behaviour. I am merely trying to shed light from a personal perspective on an extremely important issue we have here in this supposedly “lucky country” (Australia).
It is even more unlucky for First Nations Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We only have an Indigenous population of around 3 per cent out of around 26 million people. But we make up a staggering of 33 per cent of people incarcerated in juvenile and prison systems in Australia. That’s an alarming amount of our mob who are continually discriminated against and controlled by the system. I mean, c’mon now! Aren’t these statistics enough evidence that just proves that this system is completely unfair and unjust? It’s been like this for a long time now.
Don’t you think that our own government would want to at least try to implement a different way of handling this by now? I mean, are they truly invested in Closing the Gap and wanting to stop history repeating itself? Isn’t it ironic how they must think that we’re the crazy ones, yet the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome.
It’s time for us as people to speak up about this hidden agenda of suppressing and isolating not just Indigenous people in prison systems around the country but also the disadvantaged.
It’s time we unite to fix a broken system. This is a failing system – an unnecessary, inhumane, unbeneficial form of ancient punishment. It is not helping anybody – if anything, it’s making broken people even more broken – and it’s tearing families apart. Enough is enough.
Instead of putting the billions of dollars – yes, I said “billions”, Google it (if you can) – on better things such as health, education, housing, rehab and prison prevention and reintegration services, to name a few, all would help prevent people from getting locked up in the first place and/or reoffending once released.
What we are in desperate need of is more help and understanding, rather than judgement and punishment.
People in prisons around the nation have already suffered enough for our own mistakes, and most of us continue to suffer long past prison times. Prisons do make us feel like we aren’t worthy of forgiveness or acceptance from society.
Even if or when we do eventually get out of prison, we have missed out on a whole lot and have to start all over again. We are constantly trying to play catch up with the rest of the world, struggling to fit in.
We’ve been locked up for so long, with little to no real-life education courses or programs to do in prisons, we leave with no workplace experience, skills or qualifications to even attempt to be a part of this invisible void that consumes us – and so it brings us back home … to prison. In prison, at least we have a sense of belonging and equality because, sadly, it’s all we’ve grown to know.
As human beings, we all just want to feel valued and appreciated. We all long for love and acceptance. But if society wants people in prison to feel like we don’t belong or to be continually ostracised for our past mistakes, then why would anyone in their right mind want to be a part of that society?
Elections never bring anything good for people engaged in the system.
The thought of spending any time in close contact with Jonny sets my heart racing – and not in a good way.
Each court attendance made me feel sick to my stomach with nervousness as rich strangers decided my husband’s fate – and our future.
Education is not regarded as the most significant risk factor for reoffending but there is an undeniable link between a lack of education and crime.
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Help us get About Time off the ground. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.
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