WAP's Achievements

The majority of WAP’s work is currently carried out by women who contribute their time voluntarily, driven by their desire to improve conditions for women in the criminal justice system and because of the profoundly negative impact incarceration has had on their own lives. Despite the reliance on volunteers, WAP has achieved a lot since its creation: 

• Developed a Strategic framework for the organisation
• Influenced the design of the Alexander Maconochie Centre
• Worked with women inside the Alexander Maconochie Centre since it opened in 2009 to earn their trust and to raise community awareness about the issues for women in the ACT prison
• Informed the development of the tender for a women’s transition from prison program and opened discussions with the new providers of the Women Exiting Corrections Program, to discuss how WAP can assist and support them with the transitions to the new arrangements
• Jointly hosted a prison forum in June 2010 with a wide range of service providers to discuss the issues facing women in the AMC and used the information to contribute to the Independent Review of the AMC
• Developed a submission to the Independent Review of the AMC
• Developed a submission to the ACT Budget Consultation 2011/12
• Was part of the Community Integration Governance Group (CIGG) which provides strategic advice to and collaborates with government to improve community integration for prisoners
• Developed a joint submission with the Women’s Centre for Health Matters to the discussion paper Maximising Potential: Improving life transitions for young people in care
• Jointly developed a report called Invisible bars: the Stories Behind the Stats with the Women’s Centre for Health Matters which was published in 2009 and launched by Katy Gallagher, the then Minister for Women in the ACT
• Partnered with Women’s Centre for Health Matters in a Peer Support project to document good practice peer support models, the needs for and experiences of peer support programs for women living with a mental illness in the ACT and to evaluate the WAP model based on the findings
• Jointly held a Strip Searching Forum and a Throughcare Forum with Community Corrections
• Provided “Entering Prison Kits” since the prison opened in 2009, with funding support from ACT government and WESNET, which provide women with access to information about services, self care products and activities
• Developed and refined a unique peer support model
• Provided peer support by women with lived experience to assist imprisoned women and aid their transition from prison to community life
• Filled a gap in the then existing support systems for women prisoners through various approaches including prison visits, advocacy and information provision
• Developed key organisational policies and procedures around privacy and confidentiality, maintenance of records, personal safety and debriefing
• Developed and reviewed its strategic framework to ensure it was relevant to the changing environment
• Developed the skills of its members with lived experience to enable them to contribute to WAP’s work
• Jointly secured funding with WCHM from the ACT Office for Women to hold two professionally facilitated planning days to identify actions to enhance the capacity of WAP and to support the skill development of members with lived
• Cooperated with other community sector organisations to improve the well-being of women with lived prison experience
• Held monthly meetings to communicate relevant information to service providers and discuss current issues
• Attended events and conferences in the ACT and interstate to share WAP experiences and learn about good practice when working with women who have been incarcerated
• Supported Forgotten Australians from all over the country to mark the first Anniversary of the Apology to the Forgotten Australians
• Supported members with lived experience to attend training and development such as Security Awareness (AMC), Mental Health First Aid and Accidental Counselling
• Attended the Sisters Inside Is Prison Obsolete (2009) and ACTCOSS Defining Diversity (2010) conferences and other events in the ACT and interstate to share WAP experiences and learn about good practice when working with women who have been incarcerated
• Secured funding through the ACT Women’s Grants to send WAP members to the 2011 Sisters Inside Is Prison Obsolete? 2011 conference in Sydney