Bridging the gap between prisoners and the community by encouraging offenders to develop their skill set has become a lifelong mission for Tasmanian Rosie Martin.
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A speech pathologist and Tasmania’s Australian of the Year for 2017, Ms Martin spent three years teaching inmates to read and write through her literacy program ‘Just Sentences’.
Heading to Canberra on Monday as a finalist in the national Australian of the Year awards, Ms Martin said she felt “incredibly honoured”.
“It’s just amazing to me. When I look at what the other [finalists] are doing, there’s just some really beautiful work, it makes me very proud,” she said.
A believer in rehabilitation, she said the key to her ongoing work was building positive relationships with inmates and encouraging them to have hope for the future, despite what may have happened in their past.
“From my experience, most people want to transform themselves and we want to help transform people by not being judgemental, but accepting. Relationships are key, we need to connect with people and connect kindly,” she said.
“Stigma is a problem and a fault in our society, if a sentence has been given then that is their debt to society. We need to be able to support people move on.
“Today's offender may be tomorrow’s neighbour, so we should be maximising their chances of doing well when they come back into the community.”
Working with inmates at Risdon Prison in the South of the state, Ms Martin said she had seen great improvements in their communication and behavioural patterns, including a reduction in violence.
She spoke of one prisoner who had learned to read and write within four months. Another was reading at the expected level of an 8-year-old and within 10 months could read at the level of a 12-year-old.
“They went from not being able to read a newspaper, to being able to,” Ms Martin said.
“Prison is where there is this concentrated group of disadvantaged individuals from our society, but if we can provide them with skills and hope we can see enormously positive outcomes.”
In 2017, Ms Martin will continue with another project ‘Just Time’, supporting women in prison, as well as a new pilot project ‘Just Moving On’, which focuses on female prisoners who have been released.
The winner of Australian of the Year will be announced on January 25.
For more information on Ms Martin and her projects visit chattersmatters.com.au