Please see all available programs below, and click on their titles to visit the corresponding websites for more information.
| Program name and provider | Program description and aims | Program structure and dosage | Where the program is operating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violence prevention programs | |||
| Anti-Violence Program – Inside Gatton & Townsville Prisons Sisters Inside | This program provides individual (crisis or longer term) counselling to women prisoners who have experienced domestic and family violence and/or sexual assault, or related issues arising from imprisonment. | The program also occasionally runs educational and support groups about violence with women prisoners. | Gatton & Townsville Correctional Centres, Queensland. |
| Community re-entry programs | |||
| Building Own Women's Strength (BOWS) Sisters Inside | The program supports mothers as they plan for release to ensure that their children’s practical and emotional needs will be met. Pre-release support includes helping mothers in prison maintain their relationship with their children and supporting family reunification post-release. Following release, BOWS provide intensive support for women and children in rebuilding their lives after the trauma of prison, this support may include camps. | Support varies and is personalised to match the needs of the woman. | Queensland Women’s Correctional Centres. |
| Community Re-Entry Services Team (Crest) Lives Lived Well and Open Minds | The program provides alcohol and drug counselling, a withdrawal support day program, outreach, and transitional accommodation for adults. | Support matched to different presenting needs, may include a few months before release and a few months post release. | Capricornia Correctional Centre, Queensland. |
| Gatton Re-Entry Program – Inside and Outside Prison Sisters Inside | This program supports women prisoners to identify and arrange to meet their post-release needs. Support on the day of release, may include providing immediate survival needs such as transport to accommodation and access to food. Support also includes individual and family post-release advocacy, referral and practical support for 6 months. This includes supporting women to meet obligations to statutory authorities. | Case dependent, support starts 3 months before release and up to 6 months after release. | Queensland Women’s Correctional Centres. |
| MARA Sero4 Ltd | The MARA program is a gender-specific service based on a trauma-informed approach. The program provides in-depth pre- and post-release support to some women exiting prison. Services include helping women contact external agencies who can assist them in re-entering the community and linking women to services available in their communities and to support organisations that help women coming up for release create strong supportive relationships with agencies such as the Department of Housing and Child Safety post-release. | This is an open-access service, available to all prisoners including those on remand. Support women 3 months before release and 6 months post-prison. | South-East Queensland Women’s Correctional Centres. |
| Next Step Home (NSH) Program – Inside and Outside Prison in Northern Queensland Sisters Inside | This program supports eligible women prisoners to find secure housing when released from prison, priority is given to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women being released on parole. | NSH Workers support eligible women prisoners to apply for housing; maintain their tenancy for a year; and arrange ongoing independent tenancy after the initial 12 months. | Northern Queensland. |
| Women's Healing Program (PICC) Palm Island Community Company | Program supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women whilst incarcerated and when released from Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre to assist their reconnection to family, reduce their risk of reoffending, assist with transition back into their community and other services. | In custody and post release. Services are provided on a case-by-case basis. | Townsville Correctional Centre, Queensland. |
| Transition, Reintegration, Recovery and Support Richmond Fellowship Queensland (RFQ) | This program provides psychosocial transition support from custody into post-release. Support includes help with finding a place, accessing health services and other similar services. | Support starts prior to release date and can continue for up to 12 months. | South-East Queensland. |
| Parenting programs | |||
| Keeping Us Together Shine4Kids | The Keeping Us Together parenting program is offered to Mums in custody and helps them to understand the dynamics of and build confidence in building healthy, respectful relationships with their children. | The program is structured into 6 workshops, 2 hours each, with each workshop focusing on a particular component of the parent– child relationship. | Secure, open custody, and transitional correctional centres across Queensland. |
| Child and Parenting Support Sisters Inside | This program provides intensive support, often in the women's own home, to a small number of women wanting help to improve their parenting skills. The program also includes parenting education and peer support groups (with childcare provided). | Support length varies. | South-East Queensland. |
| Visiting and mother-child connection programs | |||
| Child/Parent Activity Days Shine4Kids | This day provides an extended visit where children and parents can interact and bond. The days provide 4-hour visits which includes everyday activities such a creating art and craft or play ball. The visit includes a morning tea and lunch. | 4 hour extended visit once a term, during school holidays. | Queensland Correctional Centres. |
| Story Time Shine4Kids | This program enables parents in custody to strengthen their bond with their children, by reading them a story on pre-recorded audio. | Stories are pre-recorded onto a CD or Hallmark recordable book by the parent. The book and/or CD are forwarded onto the child so that they can read the book while listening to their parent’s voice reading the story. | Secure, open custody, and transitional Correctional Centres throughout Queensland. |
| Alcohol and drug use treatment programs | |||
| Getting Smart Queensland Correctional Services | Getting Smart is a 12-session medium intensity substance abuse program, available in both custodial and probation and parole settings, which teaches cognitive behavioural therapy principles, theory, tools and techniques with a specific focus on assisting prisoners who have chosen to abstain, or are considering abstinence, from any type of addictive behaviour (substances or activities). | The program may be delivered once or twice per week for approximately 2 hours. | Queensland Correctional Centres. |
| Straight Talk Gallang Place | Alcohol and other drugs healing program with Indigenous focus. | Not known. | Townsville Correctional Centre, Queensland. |
| Pathways Queensland Correctional Services | Pathways is a high intensity, evidence-based treatment program for adults with a history of criminal conduct and alcohol and other drug use problems. | The program is a total of 126 hours in duration, with 3 sessions of 2 hours duration each week. | Queensland Correctional Centres. |
| Work skills and traineeship programs | |||
| Time to Work (Employment Services provided by Career Employment Australia Ltd) 13 providers deliver the service. Their details are available on the website link provided. | The Time to Work Employment Service assists sentenced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners to access support for employment and reintegration into the community upon their release from prison. | Must be sentenced and within 2 to 4 months of their release from prison. Sessions and formats differ. | Available in all States. |
| Legal support and representation programs | |||
| Decarceration Program Sisters Inside | This program supports women held in police watch-houses and/or appearing in court to improve their likelihood of a successful bail application. Support includes ensuring women’s access to suitable and stable housing, legal representation, community-based services and support, advocacy with police, and post-release support via outreach. | Case dependent. | South-East Queensland. |
| Parole Support – Inside all Women’s Prisons Sisters Inside | Parole Support service ensures that women can address their post-release needs whilst in prison; leave prison as soon as possible; and successfully stay out of prison following release. The support includes helping women to navigate the corrections system and supporting women who breach parole and respond to parole suspensions. | Case dependent. | Queensland Women’s Correctional Centres. |
| Supreme Court Bail (SCB) Support Program Sisters Inside | SCB workers interview women prisoners to assess their eligibility for Supreme Court Bail. Eligible women are supported to make an application to the court. | Women that are eligible for bail are supported to make an application to court. SCB workers are available in court to provide advocacy and support. | Queensland Women’s Correctional Centres. |
| Cultural connection programs | |||
| Elders Visiting Program Townsville Correctional Services Staff | This program is a visiting program where Indigenous elders visit Indigenous prisoners to provide a cultural connection and support. | In custody and post-release (for both men and women), visits regularity varies. | Townsville Correctional Centre, Queensland. |
| Health support programs | |||
| Health Support Program (HSP) – Outside Prisons in South-East and Northern Queensland Sisters Inside | The HSP supports women with complex health needs in the first month after release from prison. | The HSP focuses on supporting women in the first month after their release and working with women with complex health needs. | Queensland Women’s Correctional Centres. |
| General offending programs | |||
| Turning Point Queensland Correctional Services | This program is a psycho-educational program designed to target offenders’ responsivity issues surrounding their readiness to change. | The program runs for 15 hours and is delivered once or twice a week for approximately 2 hours per session. | Queensland Correctional Centres. |
| Making Choices Provider not specified | Making Choices is a moderate intensity women’s program for female prisoners that addresses general offending behaviour. The program uses a range of treatment methods effective in reducing recidivism, including relapse prevention planning, problem solving, safety planning, mood management techniques and the use of cognitive behavioural methods. | Support matched to different presenting needs, may include a few months before release and a few months post release. | Queensland Women’s Correctional Centres. |
| Mother and child playgroup programs | |||
| Playgroups Shine4Kids | The Shine4Kids program provides opportunities for parents and children to enhance their relationship in a supportive environment, increase their parenting skills and confidence and develop valuable social and family support networks. | This program runs once a week, for a 2-hour session. | Secure, open custody, and transitional Correctional Centres throughout Queensland. |
| Stay Together, Play Together Shine4Kids | Stay Together and Play Together offers high-quality, fun, structured and unstructured play experiences and provides opportunities for play-based learning to support positive child development. | This program runs once a week, for a 2-hour session. | Secure, open custody, and transitional Correctional Centres throughout Queensland. |
| Support programs for children with an incarcerated mother | |||
| Ride By Your Side Shine4Kids | A mentorship program for children with a mother in prison. The program provides children with a supportive, caring, and non-judgmental adult mentor. The mentor engages the child in a relaxed environment as they travel to and from the prison where their mother is held. Mentoring continues fortnightly post a mother's release if it is within the 12 months. | This is a 12-month program that runs monthly on weekdays or weekends. | Queensland, Correctional Centres. |
| Rise Shine4Kids | This program is an educational support for children with incarcerated parents. | This program offers a one-on-one mentoring out of the classroom bi-weekly for 1 hour to a student with a parent in prison. | Queensland, Correctional Centres. |
| Sexual offending and treatment programs | |||
| Sexual Assault Program Sisters Inside | This is a counselling service for women who have experienced sexual assault. | One-on-one counselling sessions for women in prison. Session regularity and lengths vary. | Women’s Correctional Centres across South-East Queensland. |
| Personal transformation programs | |||
| Sisters for Change Red Cross | Sisters for Change is a Community-Based Health and First Aid (CBHFA) program. The program has several projects within it that include Safe Women Workshops, Clean-Up Crew activities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Training, Elders for Change, an information kit for newly incarcerated parents, families and carers Project, a library and a children's book. | Multiple activities with varied lengths run over a year. | Townsville Correctional Centre, Queensland. |
| Spiritual programs | |||
| Pastoral Care State Chaplaincy Board Chaplains | Pastoral care reaches out to people in prison offering them spiritual based consolation and encouragement, in whatever form is appropriate to the person at the time. | Provides pastoral care as needed and a chapel service on a 6-weekly rotational basis. | Queensland Correctional Centres. |