THE Queensland Government is not doing enough to support prisoners released from the state’s jails, the co-ordinator of Brisbane Catholic Prison Ministry said last week.
Denise Foley was speaking on the eve of a “Prison: Rehabilitation and Community Safety … Twin Lies” forum which was held at the Parliamentary Annexe in Brisbane on October 26.
“We want to highlight the issues faced by prisoners in Queensland,” she said.
The Brisbane forum was the last of a series of six held around the state in recent weeks to highlight the plight of former prisoners, unsafe prisoner release practices and unnecessary prison spending.
Ms Foley said the forum was a direct result of the INCorrections Report released in November 2004, which was an extensive independent audit of prisoner release strategies, conducted for the UnitingCare Centre for Social Justice and prisons specialist groups.
The forum also called on the Queensland Government to adopt a real commitment to crime prevention that would mean rehabilitation for prisoners, community safety and sufficient support for prisoners and families on release.
Correctives Services Minister Judy Spence was not available for comment.
