Wap home

Welcome to the ACT Women And Prisons (WAP) Group!

WAP is a not-for-profit community group, whose members include ex-prisoners and prisoners incarcerated in or involved in the ACT criminal justice system, representatives of various ACT Women’s Services and other interested stakeholders.

You can click on the headings on the left hand side of the page to find out what we do, how we work, and to read our submissions and other reports or documents that relate to women and prisons.

We are committed to ensuring that our website meets the needs of users. You can help us by providing feedback, letting us know about useful links or resources you come across, or anything you would like to see included. You can give us your feedback by phone, fax, letter or email.

Phone - (02) 6290 2166 at WCHM
Fax – (02) 6286 4742
Post - PO Box 385, Mawson, ACT 2607
Email - admin@wchm.org.au

WAP awarded ACT Women's Grant

The ACT Women And Prisons (WAP) Group have been awarded a grant by the ACT Office for Women to develop and deliver pilot information sessions to ACT Government agencies and community service providers about the health and wellbeing needs of women with lived experience of prison.

While women are still a minority amongst inmates, they can have very complex needs and struggle against extreme disadvantage. It is important that policy makers and service deliverers are made aware of the issues facing this group so that they can develop policies and design services that are sensitive to and directly address their needs.

In the ACT, WAP has been using the unique expertise of its members to act as voice for women in prison and women with lived experience of prison through its advocacy and advisory work – for example, in Government submissions, through community consultation processes, by sitting on advisory networks and groups, and so forth. However, there is currently no detailed, generalised training package or information session about the needs of women in prison suitable for policymakers and service providers, which is also informed by the lived experience of women who have themselves been in prison. This project will fill that gap.

In addition, this project will seek to build the capacity of women with lived experience of prison from WAP to deliver awareness training to service providers and policymakers about the service and support needs of incarcerated women. WAP members with lived experience of prison have lived with the same levels of disadvantage that face other women involved in the criminal justice system. As such, this project will provide opportunities for its members with lived experience to develop their skills, confidence, and knowledge.

Extending Throughcare for Offenders

Prisoners and their families are characterised by complex needs and high levels of social exclusion. An extended Throughcare model is critical to supporting the successful reintegration of offenders after release from prison, thereby seeking to reduce re-offending. The high and growing social and financial cost of imprisonment makes it imperative to put in place a coordinated support system to reduce re-offending and return to prison.

The ACT Government has worked over the last 18 months with the community sector to develop a proposal for an extended Throughcare system to ensure continuity of service delivery beyond the corrections setting. This resulted in the report Seeing it Through: Options for improving offender outcomes in the community. http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/policystrategic/throughcare

Based on the findings in the report, a paper proposing options for the co-ordination and governance of Throughcare was developed for consideration by Cabinet. In December 2011 Cabinet agreed to extend the Throughcare policy framework which supports offenders’ reintegration into the community. The framework seeks to recognise the diverse and complex needs of prisoner during transition into the community. The framework will focus on seamless service provision with a view to reducing the risk of re-offending behaviors.

The Health of Australia's Prisoners 2010

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has released a new report. The health of Australia's prisoners 2010 is the second report on indicators of prisoner health in Australia. The two-week snapshot showed that:

• almost 1 in 3 prison entrants had ever been told they have a mental health disorder and 1 in 5 prisoners in custody was taking medication for a mental health condition;
• more than 4 in 5 prison entrants was a current smoker; over half report drinking alcohol at risk levels and 2 in 3 had used illicit drugs during the previous 12 months;
• more than 1 in 3 prison entrants had not completed Year 10 at school;
• 1 in 4 prison entrants had a chronic condition such as asthma, cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

The report also contains data relating to communicable diseases, deaths in custody, and the use of prison health services.

Click on the link to view the media release and report. 

The housing needs of women leaving prison - WIPAN Housing Discussion Paper

The NSW Women In Prison Advocacy Network (WIPAN) has produced a Discussion Paper that outlines the issues women face in finding suitable housing when they exit prison.

The aim of the paper is to generate discussion, primarily between consumers and the community service sector, but it is also an opportunity for women leaving prison to identify their needs and to share these with the NSW community service sector. The consultation with consumers and the community sector will occur until mid- December 2011, when WIPAN will consolidate the information gathered into a final report and recommendations for release early in 2012.

Attendance at Sisters Inside Conference, August 2011.

With the support of funding secured by Women’s Centre for Health Matters from the ACT Office for Women, WAP members with lived experience traveled to Sydney in August 2011 to attend the biannual Sisters Inside 6th International Conference. Sisters Inside is a high profile organisation based in Queensland that advocates for the human rights of women prisoners. This year’s conference, entitled 'Is Prison Obsolete', focused on service provision, advocacy, and alternatives to prisons. WAP members were able to learn from, and share with, other community organisations, individuals, and government representatives working in the sector and to compare the progress of the ACT to other jurisdictions by listening to interstate and international speakers. Their presence at the conference enhanced WAP’s profile and facilitated linkages that will benefit WAP as it moves towards self-sufficiency. WAP members reported back about the conference to the wider WAP group and key stakeholders at their quarterly meeting.