As Australia celebrates The Year of the Outback in 2002, the Queensland Department of Corrective Services is making sure it plays a key role in this immense celebration of Australian heritage.
Through its Work Outreach Camps (WORC), the Department is helping to revitalise Queensland’s rural and remote communities.
Department of Corrective Services Director General Helen Ringrose said the innovative WORC program was assisting to rehabilitate both offenders and outback communities, providing offenders with valuable skills and outback communities with a source of labour otherwise not available to them.
Ms Ringrose said outback economies also benefited from the Department buying camp requirements and supplies locally.
“The WORC program is a win-win situation for all those involved with the camps providing more than 65,000 hours of community service to rural and remote communities during 2000-2001,” she said.
“Therefore, it is very fitting that the Department is celebrating The Year of the Outback in this way.”
Low security offenders are sent to one of the 11 camps in rural Queensland located at Blackall, Boulia, Charleville, Clermont, Dirranbandi, Julia Creek, Mitchell, St George, Springsure, Winton and Yuleba.
They are then able to develop skills in a range of areas such as landscaping and environmental rehabilitation that will assist them to gain employment when released.
Past projects have included constructing grandstand facilities for the local camel races at Boulia and Blackall, and the restoration of an historic walkway at Springsure.
Offenders also assisted the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service with the construction of a fence around the Currawinya National Park to protect the bilby, an endangered marsupial.
Ms Ringrose said these community-based projects assisted the offenders in their rehabilitation, offering a sense of pride and building self-esteem.
“Seeing the positive impact their work is having on these communities is an essential part of their rehabilitation and gives them a sense of fulfilment knowing they have assisted the community in some way,” she said.
Ms Ringrose said the program also created positive links with rural communities, who greatly appreciated the work the camps carried out.
“For example, offenders provided flood relief to the Longreach, Muttaburra and Winton areas following a particularly wet summer,” she said.
“Cleaning up after a flood is a difficult job both physically and emotionally and the communities were very grateful for the offenders’ support.”
Through the Women’s Community Custody Program, female offenders also take part in outback-based initiatives at Warwick in south-west Queensland.
The women have supported a number of activities such as riding for the disabled and painting community centres.
However, two of their biggest annual projects are the Warwick Rodeo and the Warwick Show.
“The women help with the food preparation, clean up the grounds and play a major role in helping to make these two events such a success,” Ms Ringrose said.
“Their efforts are greatly appreciated and a strong partnership has formed between the Warwick community and the offenders because of their commitment to these projects.”
Captions for photos:
Balonne Riverbank Project at St. George in Queensland