Page 140 - moondani kyema
P. 140
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 140
The other area of my work that really interested and fulfilled me more than most, was
my involvement with the probation service and prisons. I started doing probation
work while I was at the Abbotsford Church. This brought me into contact with a
culture that I had not experienced before. I had to make regular visits to my clients
and their families as most of my probationees were teenagers. It was interesting to
meet with known criminals, or drink thick Turkish coffee with a hugely hospitable
mum. One teenager told me that I need not worry about leaving our car in front of
the house overnight. He said, if it was stolen, he would probably know who did it and
get it back for me pronto.
I had to write reports on my clients when they appeared in court and present the
court with a coherent picture of my client’s circumstances and behavior and usually
accompany this by taking the witness stand during the hearing.
My involvement with prisons began when I was working with GROW in Ballarat.
GROW had developed some prison groups which we ‘field workers’ had to supervise.
In my case this included Bendigo, Castlemaine and Geelong prisons.
When I arrived in the Latrobe Valley I applied to become a ‘prison visitor’. This was a
voluntary position with the State Government. Its purpose was to have a number of
people, independent of the government, who could visit prisons and make the
authorities aware of any weaknesses or potential problems, so that they could be
dealt with before they became major.
I had a couple of orientation days when I was shown over prisons. The first one I
went to was Pentridge prison. Here one of the prison governors was allocated to
showing me around. It was fascinating to say the least! Another prison I was shown
over was the Women’s Prison in Deer Park, and at a later stage I spent a day in the
Metropolitan Assessment Prison in Spencer Street, where a lot of prisoners were
held while on remand.
My first assignment was to the Morwell River Prison, a low security prison miles from
anywhere in the middle of magnificent mountain and forest country south of Morwell.
It consisted of a number of small two man huts and a service block which housed the
kitchen, dining room, toilets, store rooms etc. The prisoners did a lot of work around
the area for the local council. One of the prisoners had the task of phoning in the
weather details, temperature, rainfall etc., to the Weather Bureau twice a day.
I always used to visit the prison half way through the afternoon, and was given free
rein to go anywhere I wanted to in the prison precincts. Just before I had to go home
I used to make my way to the kitchen to see what was on for the evening meal. Their
cook was excellent and they usually had a more gourmet meal than I had when I got
home! After being in prison for twelve years, this cook was finally released and went
to work for the Salvation Army in Geelong. However a very patient and punitive
relative of his original victim, dobbed him in for being involved in another murder, and
he was back in prison again for another long term.
Eventually Morwell River closed down and I went across to a new prison near Sale,
the Fulham Correctional Centre, a medium security prison. I visited there once a
week for a number of years, and began to get a bit of insight into the ‘pack hierarchy’
of a prison. They had a small swimming pool, but the only people I saw swimming
there were a couple of thugs and their friends. They used to lie in the sun in
The other area of my work that really interested and fulfilled me more than most, was
my involvement with the probation service and prisons. I started doing probation
work while I was at the Abbotsford Church. This brought me into contact with a
culture that I had not experienced before. I had to make regular visits to my clients
and their families as most of my probationees were teenagers. It was interesting to
meet with known criminals, or drink thick Turkish coffee with a hugely hospitable
mum. One teenager told me that I need not worry about leaving our car in front of
the house overnight. He said, if it was stolen, he would probably know who did it and
get it back for me pronto.
I had to write reports on my clients when they appeared in court and present the
court with a coherent picture of my client’s circumstances and behavior and usually
accompany this by taking the witness stand during the hearing.
My involvement with prisons began when I was working with GROW in Ballarat.
GROW had developed some prison groups which we ‘field workers’ had to supervise.
In my case this included Bendigo, Castlemaine and Geelong prisons.
When I arrived in the Latrobe Valley I applied to become a ‘prison visitor’. This was a
voluntary position with the State Government. Its purpose was to have a number of
people, independent of the government, who could visit prisons and make the
authorities aware of any weaknesses or potential problems, so that they could be
dealt with before they became major.
I had a couple of orientation days when I was shown over prisons. The first one I
went to was Pentridge prison. Here one of the prison governors was allocated to
showing me around. It was fascinating to say the least! Another prison I was shown
over was the Women’s Prison in Deer Park, and at a later stage I spent a day in the
Metropolitan Assessment Prison in Spencer Street, where a lot of prisoners were
held while on remand.
My first assignment was to the Morwell River Prison, a low security prison miles from
anywhere in the middle of magnificent mountain and forest country south of Morwell.
It consisted of a number of small two man huts and a service block which housed the
kitchen, dining room, toilets, store rooms etc. The prisoners did a lot of work around
the area for the local council. One of the prisoners had the task of phoning in the
weather details, temperature, rainfall etc., to the Weather Bureau twice a day.
I always used to visit the prison half way through the afternoon, and was given free
rein to go anywhere I wanted to in the prison precincts. Just before I had to go home
I used to make my way to the kitchen to see what was on for the evening meal. Their
cook was excellent and they usually had a more gourmet meal than I had when I got
home! After being in prison for twelve years, this cook was finally released and went
to work for the Salvation Army in Geelong. However a very patient and punitive
relative of his original victim, dobbed him in for being involved in another murder, and
he was back in prison again for another long term.
Eventually Morwell River closed down and I went across to a new prison near Sale,
the Fulham Correctional Centre, a medium security prison. I visited there once a
week for a number of years, and began to get a bit of insight into the ‘pack hierarchy’
of a prison. They had a small swimming pool, but the only people I saw swimming
there were a couple of thugs and their friends. They used to lie in the sun in
