panel discussion

Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and The Department for Correctional Services.

Access to the arts in prison has for many years been identified as a contributor to rehabilitation and offers a range of positive benefits. Join us as we explore the transformative power of the arts and how creative initiatives can foster personal growth, enhance social and emotional wellbeing, as well as provide valuable skills that can contribute to sustainable desistence from crime.

Now in its thirteenth year, the annual Artists on the Inside exhibition provides an opportunity for people interfacing with the criminal justice system to share with community their creativity and perceptions through the visual arts. It is also an opportunity for artists ‘inside’ to join other community artists in displaying their work during the SALA Festival.

In a first for Artists on the Inside, many artists this year will have the opportunity to sell their work; this will assist in the individual’s resettlement, provide an avenue for ‘giving back’, as well as offer a glimpse into the arts as a vocational pathway.

Our panel of speakers will share their experiences and first-hand knowledge of how the arts can be a catalyst for change, enable healing through storytelling, and offer a beacon of hope for people who are involved in criminal justice systems. It is also an opportunity for the public to gain a unique insight into the lives of people imprisoned.

Join panel members for an insightful discussion about the arts and about the possibility it creates for people engaged with criminal justice systems.

Artists on the Inside is presented by the Department for Correctional Services in partnership with The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre as part of SALA Festival. This year additional partnerships have supported the exhibition with cultural program funding through the Attorney Generals Department enabling KU Arts and professional artists to deliver a series of arts workshop across a variety of sites.

This Panel Discussion complements the exhibition Artists on the Inside.

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Panellists

SHALOM ALMOND
In 2016, film maker Shalom Almond, documented a group of women participating in the Adelaide Women’s Prison greyhound adoption program. While filming their participation, Shalom got to know the women and shared their stories and their journey into the criminal justice system. The resulting film, Prisoners and Pups, premiered at the 2017 Adelaide Film Festival to a sold-out audience and was also broadcast on ABC2. Shalom also went on to be a finalist and winner of multiple awards, as well as giving a Ted Talk on her experience and the insight it gave her to women in prison. Through this project, Shalom was introduced to Nancy Bates, who was delivery singing and songwriting workshops at the prison. Nancy is a celebrated, proud and strong Barkindji woman whose career has seen her collaborate with industry icons like Archie Roach. During 2023 Shalom and Nancy joined forces and delivered Songs Inside, a unique project involving women at the Adelaide Women‘s Prison.  It has been an exciting partnership involving ukulele and music workshops, a performance at the prison with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra,  and filming of a documentary that again explores the complexity of the lives of women in contact with the criminal justice system.  

* Shalom will engage in the panel alongside two women involved in the project, while they were in prison. They will reflect on the experience, as well as consider, what impact their involvement in the project has had on their lives, particularly now they are on the other side of the fence.

JEREMY RYDER
Jeremy graduated with a PhD in Criminology from Flinders University. As a part of his PHD Jeremy produced a series of public art exhibitions created in South Australian adult prisons and delivered in partnership with the Department for Correctional Services, the Adelaide Festival Centre and UniSA’s Hawke Centre. Jeremy’s research has focused on the impact of state punishment, the creation of ‘criminal’ identities, and the ways people find opportunities to challenge those identities, with creativity and art being one. Jeremy has taught law and criminology topics for more than a decade and has also worked at the Department for Correctional Services (DCS) as a policy and project officer. Jeremy is passionate about teaching and believes that education, like art, is an important force for individual and social change.

NICOLE DWYER
Nicole is the CEO of Workskil Australia and has been in the role since 2012. Previously Nicole worked at KPMG for eight years, providing advisory services to the Government and NFP sectors in employment, education and Indigenous affairs. Workskil has a  strong partnership with the Department for Correctional Services  delivering Work Ready, Release Ready (WRRR). WRRR is a flagship initiative developed under the Department’s Reducing Reoffending: 10% by 2020 (10by20) Strategy. The WRRR program aims to reduce reoffending by engaging  men and women in tailored education and training programs and connecting them with an employment services provider (Workskil) for individualised pre- and post-release support. The program commenced 2018 and has been implemented across South Australia’s prisons and is about to expand into new areas. There is evidence that the WRRR program is achieving its objectives of increasing employment and reducing reoffending for those that successfully gained employment and engaged in the post-release phase.

CEDRIC VARCOE
Cedric is a contemporary artist, painting the creation stories of his Ngarrindjeri lands and waters, from the lower River Murray and the Lower Lakes to the Coorong, the South Coast to Kangaroo Island. Cedric was born in Adelaide in 1984 with strong family connection to Raukkan and Point Pierce. His language groups and tribes are Ngarrindjeri and Narangga. He has painted on and off for over 15 years and in 2008 he completed a mural in one of the cells at the Port Pirie Police Station, hoping to inspire young people who are getting arrested, to try to help them to have a better outlook on life, to think that they might be able to paint and express themselves creatively. In 2024 Cedric has been conducting painting workshops with men currently in Mobilong prison, enabling cultural and community connection to be made.

HAYLEY MILLS
Hayley has been the Deputy Chief Executive at the Department for Correctional Services since October 2021. As a member of Executive, Hayley is accountable for the strategic development and delivery of Statewide Operations, including nine prisons and fifteen Community Correctional Centres. She is also the State Contract Administrator for several contracted services including two private prison operations, prisoner transport and movement services and electronic monitoring. Hayley co-chairs the Department’s Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group and is passionate about progressing Closing the Gap initiatives. Prior to her current role, Hayley was the Executive Director for Community Corrections and Specialist Prisons, a portfolio that enabled her to impart her strong focus on reintegration and rehabilitation, progressing tailored approaches to the unique needs of women in the Criminal Justice System and progressing alternative to custody initiatives.

FACILITATOR: EMERITUS PROFESSOR RICK SARRE
Emeritus Professor Rick Sarre retired in April 2020 from the role of Dean at the University of South Australia’s Law School to become an Adjunct with UniSA Justice & Society. Before retiring he had taught commercial law, media law, sports law and criminology for 35 years in four countries, USA, Sweden, Hong Kong and Australia. He is a Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology and in 2017 was awarded Fellow status of that society. He is a Professorial Fellow of the Australian Institute of Police Management.