This panel discussion will bring together people with lived and living experience of the justice system, including some who are currently working within academia, and academics without lived experience of the justice system. In this session, we will explore issues such as ensuring respectful and authentic collaboration and co-design; the risk of trauma and need for self-care; dealing with ethics committees and complex ethical issues; increasing the capacity of the living expert workforce; and ensuring the same respect is accorded to all voices and forms of knowledge. We will also consider the benefits and challenges of communicating with a range of audiences, including students, practitioners and policy-makers; using different forms of communication, such as art; and political representation, asking questions such as: Who gets to speak as a ‘lived experience’ expert? Who holds power to construct and define this identity? And how can we ensure that a diversity of perspectives are represented, included and amplified? It is well established that successful outcomes in rehabilitation are inherently tied to economic inequality. We will therefore also explore the links between economic and social exclusion, economic inequality and education attainment. Finally, speakers will explore how academic institutions support and/or hinder the involvement of people with justice experience, for example, through discriminatory employment practices, and how individual academics can be effective allies.
Presenters
Lorana Bartels (moderator) is a Professor of Criminology at the Australian National University and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Canberra and University of Tasmania. In 2015, she helped to establish and evaluate a yoga program in the ACT prison. She has co-authored several publications with people with lived experience of the justice system. She is a Director of the Justice Reform Initiative, co-chair of its ACT chapter and a member of the board of the school at the ACT youth detention centre. She was previously Secretary of Prisoners Aid ACT.
Damien Linnane is a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle. His thesis is motivated by his lived experience of being denied mental health treatment while he was incarcerated in NSW. After being told he was not eligible for rehabilitation, tertiary education or therapy in custody, Damien spent his sentence writing a crime novel, Scarred (Tenth Street Press, 2019), by hand. His second book, a memoir titled Raw (Brolga Publishing, 2023), goes into further detail about his experiences in the criminal justice system. Damien is also the editor of Paper Chained, a magazine for people in prison.
Dean Lloyd is a systemic change advocate, critical thinker, guest lecturer and Fellow of the International Specialised Skills Institute, with an inherent understanding of the criminal justice system.
Diana Johns is an Associate Professor in Criminology at the University of Melbourne. Her research is focused on the effects of criminalisation, the impacts of imprisonment, and the possibilities of restorative, relational and reintegrative justice practices. She is particularly interested in exploring experiences of transition, in-betweenness and liminality. Diana’s book, Being and Becoming an Ex-Prisoner, based on her PhD research with formerly imprisoned men and people supporting their transitions to community, was published in 2018 by Routledge. Her new book, Coproduction and Criminal Justice, co-written with Catherine Flynn, Maggie Hall, Claire Spivakovsky and Shelley Turner, was published by Routledge in 2023.
Dr Lukas Carey (He/Him), completed his Doctorate in Education and has worked in the field for most of his career as a teacher, trainer, coach and educator. He is a lived experience sessional academic at UNSW.
Marietta Martinovic is an Associate Professor in Criminology and Justice Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne. She started the first Australian Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program in Australia and has established and is leading five prison-based and one community-based Think Tank. Think Tanks are composed of people with lived experience of the criminal justice system (CJS), university students, researchers and CJS practitioners. Think Tanks consult with a range of stakeholders about improving justice-related policies and practices. Marietta is internationally recognised for transformative learning in prisons and developing opportunities for the inclusion of lived criminal justice experience in policy-making.
Sarah Tucker, a visual artist for over 30 years, draws inspiration from various sources, including her experiences as an ex-prisoner, prison art teacher, providing prison chaplaincy services, and the common theme of art as empowering tool for expression, self-induced healing, and social justice. While in prison, she pursued a BA in Visual Arts through correspondence and later worked as a self-employed tattoo artist, until a policy change made this an illegal activity for her. Sarah has since gained additional accreditation in Criminology, Neuroscience, Social Science, Counselling, and Art Psychotherapy. Notably, she is the first formerly incarcerated person in Australia to obtain research approval for mixed-methodology research in Queensland prisons.
