Prisoners Aid Association of NSW

For over a century, we’ve been helping people make the most of life after incarceration and help remove the many barriers they face. We remain steadfast in our mission by equipping people with the essential skills, resources, support and services needed for a fresh start.

We educate, encourage, employ, and engage people who have been released from incarceration back into the community. Education is through our Mates for Life program, which focuses on self-regulation and emotional readiness for engaging with others in the community and employment. The course lasts six weeks and is followed by three weeks of supported work experience.

We also partner with organisations that provide case management and counselling when necessary to enhance our clients’ chances of completing the course and succeeding in securing stable employment. We employ people within our organisation for at least twenty-six weeks to provide them with an initial experience of routine employment. The key measure of success of our work is the reduction in recidivism. We know that when someone completes our Mates for Life Program, completes their work experience, and is placed in stable employment for twenty-six weeks, their chances of recidivism are reduced by more than fifty percent. The yearly cost of keeping one person incarcerated for 12 months is $147,000; we will succeed if we get that same person to contribute their fair share of taxes back into the community instead of being a drain.

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