This is a very special Ask Stacey, as I finished parole! And the questions came from all sorts of different people in the justice system.

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So, let’s get right into it!

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Question 1: What did you find hardest about being on parole?

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The thing I found hardest about being on parole was definitely the stupid bracelets! They were the ultimate test of patience and resolve.

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As an example, I was supporting someone at court and was entered into the court record as being present. I then got a phone call as I left court demanding I explain why I was in an exclusion zone that was 20km away. I said ‘I sure can, it’s an error, I am at the Magistrate’s Court and was entered into record, you’re welcome to check that’.

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Other times I’d get calls asking “are you on a train?” (as I was only allowed to travel via train initially). I’d say yes and then they would say “ok, have a nice day” and they’d hang up.

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It can seem super stupid, it can be tempting to be a smart ass, to be frustrated and annoyed. But just smile, keep calm and carry on.

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Question 2: What helped get you through parole successfully with no issues?

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I managed to get paroled to my nan’s house. I was told I needed to understand that people change while you’re away.

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I felt like it was an obvious thing to be saying after almost a decade. But shortly after, my nan passed away. I was lucky to be able to see her in hospital just before she passed away. She had smiled and told me she was in so much pain, that she didn’t think she’d make it.

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But she was so determined to see me. She had held on so I could get out and spend time with her before she passed on. I mattered that much to someone. And she kept it together for so long for me. So, I have kept it together for her. I hope she sees that I have kept it together and is proud of me.

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I just really needed the answer to the question I’d ask myself every time it got hard: Why bother… why tolerate this stupidity? Why?

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Because nan endured more for me. I can endure this.

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So I’d say: find a reason why. Even spite is a great reason. Why endure all the crap and frustrations? Because we won’t let it beat us.

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Question 3: What made it harder?

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The parole system made it harder. So, so much harder. This is just my opinion, as that’s the whole point of this column. And my opinion is that parole is not an exercise in reintegration, but an exercise in making sure the parole board and by extension the government don’t look bad.

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I had exclusion zones, drug tests, GPS and alcohol bracelets, weekly reporting and counselling. This is after I was not required to do programs, low risk and never an identified drug user.

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I had so many exclusion zones I would describe traveling as plotting a course like an ancient explorer with a map and compasses and was basically under house arrest at one point. And when I had had enough and asked to talk to the parole board, to ask them to explain why my parole was being made so hard, they refused to see me. I never once saw them.

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I always say: I reintegrated despite parole, not because of it. And I truly believe that. There was a time that parole was to monitor those deemed a risk.

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Now those deemed a risk get no parole, just a straight release. And the low risk people get parole, so the statistics say how no one has committed a serious offence on parole this year, but how many crimes have been committed by those of us on straight release?

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Question 4: What did you do to celebrate?

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I went out on the town with my friends and definitely did not get white-girl wasted. We in fact had tea and scones and saw a play… yup… 100 per cent.

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And then I went to the Reintegration Puzzle Conference! So, stay tuned for articles about that coming up.

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See you next month my loves!