Along a nondescript dirt road in Far North Queensland is a farm that looks like any other in the area — except the animals on this rural property are looked after by prisoners.
“I’ve always wanted to learn about cattle, and working with cattle also helps me with my mental health,” said James*, a prisoner at the Lotus Glen Correctional Facility.
“Working with the cattle makes us feel like we are part of something, and it gets us ready for working when we are released.”
The facility, about 100 kilometres west of Cairns, runs a fully operational farm with a range of fruit, vegetables, aquaculture and cattle.
Its goal is for prisoners to learn key skills, while caring for animals and at the same time giving back to the community.
Doug Vidler, the facility’s low custody manager, said the farm had also been recognised for its Brahman/Droughtmaster cross, something he attributed to the prisoners’ efforts.
“We are known for our breeding and the quietness of our cattle, due to the cattle being handfed and being around prisoners every day,” Mr Vidler said.
Sense of purpose
The low-security facility, one of six prison farms in Queensland, opened in 1986 and accommodates 134 prisoners.
The typical prison-style high-metal fencing is notably absent from the perimeter. In its place just a few strands of fencing wire keep cattle in.
“Size-wise this in the largest prison farm in Queensland … the prisoners at the farm have gone through a rigorous selection process to assess that they are suitable to be here,” Mr Vidler said.
He said a sense of purpose for the prisoners, who were “from all sorts of backgrounds”, was a driving factor behind what they did at the farm.
“From having job-ready skills … giving them something meaningful to do during the day, it’s about giving them the skillsets to go back to their families and communities.”
Aside from learning key work skills, the prisoners are also introduced to metalwork, concreting, welding and aquaculture.
“And the prisoners get skills which will enable them to work on cattle stations, they can leave here with a Cert II in Rural Operations,” Mr Vidler said.
From barramundi to basil
The farm runs several training programs aimed at giving prisoners skills to gain employment once they are out of custody.
They include a large aquaponics project housing barramundi fingerlings.
“We grow barramundi in tanks and the waste from the fish is used to water the plants that we grow here, including basil, lettuce, strawberries and cucumbers which are then used in the prison kitchen,” Mr Vidler said.
“Everything is built out of second-hand materials to show the prisoners that they can build something like this when they get back to their communities.”
Prisoner Michael* said the aquaponics skills he’d learnt had inspired him to set goals for the future.
“I’ve learnt how to manage barramundi, how to feed them well so that they feed the plants and to keep the water chemistry correct,” he said.
“It’s taught me how to run a whole aquaculture system; it’s a career that I would be interested in looking into.”
Barra and cattle donated to others
Giving back to others is one of the farm’s goals, and a number of its products are helping the local community — as well as wildlife.
“We donate the barramundi, when they get too big, to the Tableland Fish Stocking Society at Lake Tinaroo for their restocking program, which helps with tourism and fishing,” Mr Vidler said.
“Just this year we have donated around 50 fish.”
Some of the cattle not sent to market are donated to feed the homeless and disadvantaged, and there’s a win for koalas too.
“We grow eucalyptus for a local wildlife park to feed their koalas … we grow eight different varieties of eucalyptus across 15,000 trees,” Mr Vidler said.
“Our guys get skills in irrigation, chainsawing and rural operations and the prisoners just love anything to do with animals.”
‘Less likely to reoffend’
Vocational training officer Jasmin Jones said equipping prisoners with skills to fill employment gaps in local industries had another purpose.
“We want to set up the prisoners with the best possible chance of going back to their community and getting employment,” Ms Jones said.
“One of the predictors of people not coming back is having gainful employment, having a job means they are less likely to reoffend.”
She said many prisoners at the farm were gaining an official qualification for the first time, which made a “huge difference to their self-esteem”.
“You should see the joy on their face when they receive a certificate for a unit of competency.
“It may be their first positive interaction with education and achieving something. It also helps set them up to take their next step to furthering their education.
“If they have young children — and they are watching a different path being taken — [it] may help in trying to stop that cycle.”
*Names of prisoners have been changed
