Minister for Corrections Enver Erdogan visited Loddon-Middleton Prison in Castlemaine on Monday to meet Corrections staff and prisoners who are part of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Centre of Excellence program that provides prisoners with the opportunity to obtain civil construction licenses and tickets.
Former prisoners have turned their lives around by using the program to find employment and pre-apprenticeship pathways and land a job in the construction sector, a well as warehousing and traffic control.
Minister Erdogan said 32 prisoners were part of the initial pilot, including 18 from the Castlemaine facility. Such was the success of the initial pilot the program has now been rolled out to prisons across the state.
The state government has allocated $37 million in its 2022/2023 budget to support the program over the next three years to ensure prisoners have access to quality VET education programs that reduce the barriers to aid employment upon release.
The program delivered by Corrections Victoria in conjunction with Bendigo Kangan Institute and major employers provides prisoners intensive training over 12-15 weeks and focuses on practical skills such as operating forklifts, skid steers, excavators and elevating work platforms.
Twenty-eight-year-old Sarah completed the VET Centre of Excellence (COE) at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in July 2022 and told the Mail she highly recommends the program to other women in prison, so that they can also feel empowered to succeed.
“I was one of the first four women to sign up for the pilot back in March 2022 and I found the training was really comprehensive. They didn’t just hand us a white card at the end of the course, we learnt a wide range of skills such as forklift driving, skid steer (bobcat), excavation skills, Stop/Slow traffic management and the mathematics behind different aspects of civil construction. We had to reach certain hours of training on the various machinery to complete our course,” she said.
Sarah received tickets and licences in traffic management, skid steer, excavator and gained many more skills related to work in the civil construction sector.
During her COE studies, Sarah was engaged with the Women’s Employment Specialist (WES) service at DPFC, who provided pre and post-release employment support.
Following her release in August 2022, the WES introduced Sarah to SHEForce, a recruitment company giving women ex-offenders a second chance and was employed on a casual basis.
Sarah’s skills soon impressed her new employer and within a short period of time and with much support she is now employed full time on a large construction site.
Sarah said that she is extremely grateful for the skills she learnt in the VET Centre of Excellence, the support she received from the Women’s Employment Specialists and the second chance from SHEForce.
“I am now working on a big construction project. I earn good money and I have a good life. I am sober and clean and making the most of this second chance,” Sarah said.
She definitely recommends the program to other women in custody.
“Just have a go. Not everything will be your cup of tea but it never hurts to learn new skills. I was really pleased to have skills and a clear plan to put in motion on my release,” she said.
