Claire Seppings has been awarded a Churchill fellowship to study peer mentor programs for ex-prisoners in other countries. With over 40% of prisoners in Victoria re-offending within two years, putting pressure on the corrections system, her research into how ex-prisoners can mentor current prisoners could help address the revolving door of the system. Her study will take her to the UK, Ireland, Sweden and the US to examine how peer mentors who have been through the criminal justice system themselves can help rehabilitate and reintegrate current prisoners back into society.

1. Express is BACK!
Castlemaine resident, Claire Seppings, has been awarded a Churchill fellowship to study
the rehabilitative role of ex-prisoners as peer mentors.
Stopping theStopping the
revolving doorrevolving door Prisons under
pressure
As reported in the Express earlier this
year, more than 40 per cent of prisoners
who are released from jail are re-offend-
ing within two years and ending up back
behind bars.
The statistic will almost certainly get
higher in coming years, placing even more
pressure on the corrections system in Vic-
toria.
Throw in more people on parole, more
people on community-based orders and
the abolition of suspended sentences and
it makes you wonder where it all will end.
Police and Corrections Minister, Wade
Noonan, said there had been an unprec-
edented growth in the prison population
over the past few years.
“It is probably likely to go higher and
that means we have got more prisoners
going into the system and more prisoners
coming out of the system that are re-of-
fending within a period of two years.”
Mr Noonan says it’s a system under
increasing pressure and it’s one that he
is determined to run as efficiently as pos-
sible.
He also wants to ensure it is run safely
for prisoners and staff and that programs
are in place to rehabilitate offenders.
Stopping the
revolving door
Jeff Jones
Stopping the
revolving door
Castlemaine social worker, Claire Seppings, is about to
embark on a life-changing journey after being awarded a
prestigious Winston Churchill Memorial Trust fellowship.
The fellowship, valued at an average of $25,000 each,
will see Ms Seppings travel across the globe to study the
rehabilitative role of ex-prisoners/offenders as peer men-
tors in integration models in the UK, Ireland, Sweden and
the USA.
With Victoria’s prison population exploding and the ris-
ing number of prisoners re-offending, this is an important
and timely study.
Police Minister, Wade Noonan, is keen to find a solution
which is what makes Ms Seppings’ study so important.
“This whole project that I am about to undertake is a
Express is BACK!
ping the
lving door
build-up of years of professional and lived experience with
Stopping the
revolving door
the criminal justice system,” Ms Seppings said.
“Through all aspects of my experience I have come to
realise that what we are doing now is not working because
the re-offending and imprisonment rates continue to rise.
“I’ve seen people I know end up in the revolving prison
cycle and one of them actually said to me ‘I don’t know how
to be straight’.”
Ms Seppings said there was still a need for people to
go to prison but “it’s what we do with them when they are
there that counts”.
“They are doing a lot of progressive work with peer men-
tors in prisons overseas and what I want to do is gather as
much evidence as I can so that correctional authorities in
Australia can mobile these kind of programs.”
Express is BACK!
ping the
lving door
Ms Seppings said that in the UK, former prisoners, who
Page 1 of 2
30 Jun 2015
Midland Express, Kyneton VIC
Author: Jeff Jones • Section: General News • Article type : News Item
Audience : 22,510 • Page: 1 • Printed Size: 888.00cm² • Market: VIC • Country: Australia
ASR: AUD 2,358 • Words: 575 • Item ID: 427483983
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2. had walked in the same shoes and got through the other
side, were the mentors.
“They are leading by example and they have the cre-
dentials with the offenders because they’re familiar with
the pitfalls.
“The mentors can introduce the prisoners to a non-
criminal community when they get out so they that they
can reconnect properly and that can lead to more opportu-
nities with employment, social groups and so on.”
Ms Seppings will head overseas in October and the re-
search will take about seven weeks.
“I am absolutely honoured to be awarded the Churchill
fellowship - it is life-changing and for me; it is the career
path that I want to continue on.”
Page 2 of 2
30 Jun 2015
Midland Express, Kyneton VIC
Author: Jeff Jones • Section: General News • Article type : News Item
Audience : 22,510 • Page: 1 • Printed Size: 888.00cm² • Market: VIC • Country: Australia
ASR: AUD 2,358 • Words: 575 • Item ID: 427483983
Copyright Agency licensed copy (www.copyright.com.au)