An innovative vocational education program involving inmates at Fulham Correctional Centre and Gippsland dairy farmers has achieved some successful re-integrations into work and society.
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But lack of funding will see the dairy education program close.
Facilitators involved with the program said ongoing funding was well below the cost of incarceration.
The Institute of Public Affairs has cited the cost of incarcerating one person in an Australian prison was on average $159,510 in 2025.
Taxpayers were paying significantly more for incarcerating someone in Victoria, with 20 per cent of Victoria’s prisons under private management, including Fulham Correctional Centre, which is managed by The GEO Group Australia.
Victorian Liberal Party MP and Shadow Minister for Police and Corrections Brad Battin, said the cost of imprisoning someone in Victoria was 34.4 per cent higher than in NSW and 59.7 per cent higher than in Queensland.
Fulham’s dairy education program has adapted the successful schools’ education program Cows Create Careers and added dairy industry vocational courses, to provide prisoners with employment options after release.
The Cows Create Careers schools’ education program was developed in 2004 and is taught to thousands of students Australia-wide.
Fulham’s dairy education program is delivered as a workforce attraction program and is led by GippsDairy staff and dairy farmers.
The first two years of delivery (2024-26) have been funded by the Gardiner Dairy Foundation.
The foundation is a strong supporter of initial program funding for programs in the Victorian dairy industry that help develop new skills and career pathways and support initiatives to improve employment in the sector.
The foundation has identified lack of a skilled workforce as an impediment to the future productivity and competitiveness of the dairy industry.
Gippsland dairy farmers Aaron Thomas, Paul Mumford and Colleen Laws have been involved in delivering the course.
Aaron and Paul are among those who believe funding the dairy education program in other prisons would be a better use of taxpayer money than the cost of incarcerating prisoners.
“It’s the type of program that should be replicated across Australia,” Aaron said.
“You have to ask the government, is the cost of incarceration the best bang for buck use of taxpayers funding, or are we better off readying prisoners for vocational employment and parole?”
Aaron has been involved with the dairy education program from the first intake.
He is a program facilitator and more recently a mentor to a paroled prisoner.
Paul Mumford, a past president of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria, donated three Jersey calves to the program in spring 2024, and has since become a program facilitator.
“I’d love for the program to be delivered in other prisons, but it does come with challenges — you need a physical area for the calves, industry facilitators for the program, and geographically a prison in a location close to dairy farms,” Paul said.
“Then you throw in the nuance of the state-owned prisons compared to the privately-managed prisons, and there is difference to how they’re managed.
“It’s horrific to think that once an inmate is released, there’s no follow up or support, because the system fails to support the prisoners once they’re released.
“Doing the program has made me realise the failings of the prison system.
“Post-parole and what the different prisons offer and do, there’s no consistency.
“I’ve learned as much by doing the program as the inmates have done, and what they’re getting in skills and knowledge from me.”
In 2026, Fulham’s dairy education program has been funded to be delivered to one cohort in autumn.
The continuation of the program in spring and beyond 2026 is dependent on GippsDairy and the GEO Group Australia securing funding for it.
Fulham’s dairy education program began with an initiative to give dairy calves to a group of prisoners at Fulham, for them to rear over several weeks.
There are up to six prisoners in each learning group, responsible for rearing three calves.
The prisoners selected for the first learning group designed and built comfortable pens for the calves to be housed, including water and feeding facilities.
Each successive learning group has been responsible for maintaining and repairing those facilities, and cleaning them prior to, during and after the calves have been housed for three weeks.
An intensive three-week education program has enabled prisoners to learn about calf rearing including feeding regimes, weighing calves, animal welfare and health, biosecurity, and general maintenance of pens and equipment.
Theoretical classroom learning about farm safety, farm technology, animal nutrition and career options has been followed by practical components such as the on-farm cups on cups off program and milking cows at a range of farms including those with rotary and robot milking systems.
Program facilitators and teachers include Gippsland dairy farmers and veterinarians.
Paul Mumford said one classroom session about animal health and nutrition used chocolate to reinforce learning.
“We have fun, using chocolate to represent the consistency of cow manures,” Paul said.
“You don’t want a runny, squirty chocolate like Ice Magic, because it’s not good for the animal. Ideally, we want a Mars bar.”
Enver Erdrogan, Minister for Corrections (at the time of writing), said the program at Fulham offered men practical opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge of the dairy community.
The overall dual-aim was to enable prisoners to gain vocational skills and help them to view the dairy industry as a potential employer when they are discharged from incarceration.
Thirty prisoners have participated in Fulham’s dairy education program, and 14 men offered employment opportunities, including working on dairy, beef and grain farms in Gippsland, after achieving parole on their sentences.
Advocates for programs that reduce recidivism include Dr Frank Thorn, managing director of The GEO Group Australia, which manages Fulham Corrections Centre.
Recidivism is the tendency of criminals to re-offend and be convicted.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the population of adult prisoners in Australian prisons was 46,998 in 2025, and that 60 per cent of prisoners had at least one prior incidence of adult imprisonment.
Dr Thorn said providing prisoners with opportunities to develop job-ready skills was vital to reducing recidivism.
Factors behind repeat offending includes people experiencing difficulty accessing financial resources, social supports, health services, and opportunities to re-integrate into normal society.
“Helping the men secure meaningful employment and stable accommodation after release reduces recidivism,” Dr Thorn said.
*At the time of writing, Labor MP Enver Erdogan was the Minister for Corrections in the Victorian Government.