Tradies to upskill prisoners

Roebourne Regional Prison is among the many jails across WA calling for experienced tradespeople to join the corrective services in a bid to aid prisoners’ rehabilitation efforts.

The State Government last week announced there were 125 vocational support officer roles available at 14 WA prisons in occupations including baking, metal fabricating, gardening, food preparation and painting.

The officers would help prisoners at the only Pilbara prison upskill and focus on self-improvement so they were better placed to find employment or continue with their training when leaving prison.

The medium security prison on the outskirts of Roebourne requires inmates to work or study, and has a strong focus on trade and workshop skills as part of the vocational training offered.

Corrective Services Minister Francis Logan said, as a former tradie, he understood the value of hands-on-skills and how rewarding the work could be.

“Vocational support officers play a very important role in our prisons and have the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of the people they work with and to local communities,” he said.