The proponents of a landmark agreement to train and employ Aboriginal prisoners in the Pilbara say it has the potential to be rolled out nationwide.
The proponents of a landmark agreement to train and employ Aboriginal prisoners in the Pilbara say it has the potential to be rolled out nationwide.
Under the deal initiated by the state’s Department of Corrective Services, low-risk Aboriginal prisoners at Roebourne will be offered entry into a training program and then given a guaranteed job with Fortescue Metals Group in roles such as construction trades assistant, forklift operator or mine operator.
The job guarantee lasts for six months but Commissioner James McMahon said it was hoped it would lead to permanent employment.
Nationally, Aboriginal adults make up more than a quarter of all prisoners, despite comprising just more than 2 per cent of the adult population.
There are currently 172 male prisoners at Roebourne, 149 of whom are Aboriginal, with 24 rated as being low-risk and in minimum security.
Eight of these men are now getting ready to join the program.
FMG chairman Andrew Forrest said he was grateful to the Department of Corrective Services for stepping up and inviting companies such as his to make a difference in the lives of Aboriginal people.
“Fortescue championed and engaged so passionately with corrective services to help people not come back (to jail), to help society and to save our precious taxpayers dollars to do something useful like hospitals and schools,” he said.
Prisoners will be trained at the Roebourne prison work camp as well as FMG sites nearby.
Depending on the role and individual’s prison sentences, the type of training and length of time to complete it will vary.
Mr McMahon said Roebourne prisoners had a 45 to 55 per cent reoffending rate and the program was aimed at reducing that rate by giving offenders a sense of belonging and meaning, while maintaining public safety.
“Our stats will tell us that we need to try new things,” he said.
Mr McMahon said the program drew on learnings from the state government’s award-winning Fairbridge project near Pinjarra, which provided accommodation, training and employment for young people, Aboriginals, and released prisoners.
“We’ve taken the concept of that and evolved it,” he said.
He said linking with FMG was a natural fit, as it had operations in Roebourne and ran Aboriginal employment programs through the federal government initiative Vocational, Training, & Employment Centres (VTEC) and through Mr Forrest’s GenerationOne project.
The program at Roebourne is an extension of VTEC and will be called Fresh Start.
Mr McMahon said the program could be rolled out to other parts of WA, such as Wyndam or Perth’s metro area, and be customised to local employers and industries.
“There’s no reason we can’t roll this out across the state, and there’s no reason the concept can’t roll out across Australia,” he said.
Mr Forrest echoed the statement, saying he would like to see the program grow and even eventually include higher risk offenders.
“I would like to see the engagement with the private sector by police commissioners right across Australia to help reduce that awful revolving door... of people going into jail and then out of jail and then into jail again,” Mr Forrest said.
“The best way to stop that is giving people hope and self-sustainability and you do that with employment.”
