Prison visitor

Transcription

The IPV program is an opportunity for people like ourselves, independent people, to come in and spend a period of time in a prison, to view its operation in an objective way, but also be there as another person that prison staff or prisoners can speak to. If they've been through other channels and they're feeling that they're not having their issues resolved or their issue is not being heard, then the IPV is another person that can do that. The value of what we do is it provides an independent perspective to the Minister of how the prison system is going and in the end it will benefit prisoners and officers. The reason I became a volunteer is I had plenty of spare time and I like doing things in the community, and it just seemed a useful thing to do. I like talking to people, that's what a lot of it involves and I just liked the flexibility of the hours. I could do it on days that suited me. I don't feel at all unsafe anywhere I go, any location, no matter where it is within the prison, I feel 100% safe. A typical day as a volunteer is I'll come into the prison and I'll report to the General Manager and they'll give me a rundown of what's happening in the prison. There may have been an incident the day before or the week before, they just sort of like to keep us informed. We also discussed outstanding issues from the last visit that I made. There's a register of people that want to have a chat with me. We go through that process and then just a general walk around. So I'll choose the area, I might spend some time with the industries, I'll walk through there and just casually to chat to people, and there might be issues that need to be addressed. I'm not interested in why they're here and what they might have done, something we don't even ask about, and it's just a matter of just focusing on what that particular issue that prisoner has at that point in time. You know, might be going into the medical centre or the stores, chat to staff, chat to prisoners. Then at the end of my visit I would meet again with the General Manager and go through any issues that need to be addressed or raised. Then I prepare a report for the Minister. The most rewarding part of my role as an Independent Prison Visitor is being able to give back to the community and to see the benefits. It makes me feel good doing all these things, it's putting something back into the community. I don't really do it for rewards for myself, I do it as an opportunity to make a contribution, but there are aspects to it that are quite rewarding.