Working with the Department of Justice means a steady income and stable job with regular hours for tradespeople and farm staff.
From bakers to gardeners, metal shop workers and cabinet makers, to chefs and meat inspectors the kind of tradespeople Corrective Services hire to support the rehabilitative journey of adult prisoners around the WA custodial estate is boundless.
Vocational Support Officers share their knowledge with prisoners and equip them with valuable work and life skills that benefit them both during their time in custody and when they return to the community.
In the Wooroloo, Pardelup and Karnet Prison Farms, Vocational Support Officers teach men in custody the ins and outs of running working farms, while supplying food to the rest of the custodial estate.
Inside Casuarina and Albany Prisons, prisoners learn about working in textiles workshops and make anything from uniforms to bedding for the entire prisoner population.
Bunbury Regional Prison features a working market garden managed by a team of prisoners who are overseen by a Vocational Support Officer.
Individual prisons take care of their own laundry, gardens, cleaning and maintenance, with prisoners given the opportunity to apply for the jobs while in custody.
This teaches the prisoners important work skills, as well as responsibility, teamwork and gives them pride in their ability to achieve.
They form important, supportive relationships with other prisoners and live a life reflective of the kind of lives they want to have when they return to the community.
In addition, keeping production and work in-house offers the prison estate a level of self-sufficiency, taking cost pressures off the taxpayer.
Current VSO opportunities can be found on the Department of Justice Jobs Board at doj-internet-wagov.bigredsky.com.
Can't find the role that you are looking for? Email your resume and which prison you would be interested in joining to prisonindustries@justice.wa.gov.au.
Hear from some of our VSOs
The Role
Show moreYou'll not only help deliver community and industry programs aimed at preventing re-offending and encouraging prisoner participation, you'll also be making a positive difference in prisoners' lives.
Our vocational support officers provide training to prisoners and manage programs aimed at increasing the prisons' self-sufficiency and raising commercial return.
You'll also need to ensure that your work environment complies with occupational safety and health regulations and production meets quality standards.
The benefits
Show moreOur vocational support officers enjoy a range of great benefits including:
- employment security
- flexible working conditions
- generous leave entitlements including:
- 5 or 6 weeks annual leave plus 17.5% leave loading
- personal leave
- parental leave (paid and unpaid)
- study leave
- long service leave after 7 years
- purchased leave
- competitive salary: $50,653-$86,036 per annum* plus superannuation
- opportunities for promotion
- supplied uniforms
- regional incentives (depending on the location)
- the ability to utilise your trade skills to make a real difference to the lives of others.
* Note - some vocational support officer positions do not require qualifications and some involve shift work.
Eligibility
Show moreThe people we seek include:
- chefs
- bakers
- cabinet makers
- metal and mechanical tradespeople
- farm operators/farm managers
- horticulturalists/market gardeners/groundsmen
- laundry operators
- automotive panel/paint repairers
- abattoir workers
- textile/garments manufacturing tradespeople.
When positions are advertised, the eligibility requirements will be outlined in the Application Package, including the specific salary range applicable to the position and the trade qualifications or skills required.
You'll need to be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or a New Zealand citizen.
