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Day in the Life of Lorraine Van Dulken
processing prisoners, looking out
for them, and you can be doing the
medication side of it as well.
‘I’ve learnt a lot about people with
diabetes, taking blood sugar levels,
and the use of insulin, so working
closely with the medical staff here to
gain that information is interesting.
‘I also like to be able to use my skills
in sign language,’ Lorraine continues.
‘We have quite a few deaf repeat
offenders, and sometimes they’re
willing to be a bit more open with me,
because I know their language.’
For Lorraine, the ability to implement
changes within her workplace has
also been important.
‘I’m not a big vocal person, and I’m
not management here,’ she explains,
‘but you can still undertake good
management in doing the right
thing. Perhaps if an area needs to be
addressed, you address it yourself,
and then people will follow. I have put
some things into practice, so that’s
satisfying.’
One other aspect that has come to
amuse Lorraine is being referred to
as an elder, or as ‘aunty’.
‘When I first came to Cairns, I was
sometimes called an elder or an aunty
by the prisoners. I thought they were
relating to my age, and I took offence.
‘They’d say “I’m not talking to him or
her, I want to talk to the elder”. They’d
be pointing at me, and I took it as an
insult, until someone informed me
that this is a sign of respect. So at
first I disliked it, but now I like it.’
WHAT DO YOU NOT LIKE ABOUT IT?
‘I suppose it can be a thankless
job sometimes,’ Lorraine admits.
‘You tend to be overlooked, and
sometimes you can think “they don’t
even know I’m here”.
‘But you can come in to work one day
and a prisoner might say, “I apologise
“We have quite a few deaf repeat offenders, and
sometimes they’re willing to be a bit more open
with me, because I know their language.”
for the way I spoke to you the other
day, I really didn’t mean to”, or “I
know I was talking a load of rot, miss,
but it’s nice that you had the time to
listen to me”. So that’s the thanks I
get.
‘We also never, ever leave the
Watchhouse!’ Lorraine says. ‘I feel
as though I’ve done a sentence
sometimes! We don’t do escorts or
anything outside the Watchhouse,
because we haven’t got powers.
‘When I was employed, the range of
duties described was more varied,
and some of those duties have never
eventuated. They haven’t got the
legislation passed, so it’s the police
or Correctional Officers who do the
transports.
‘I have thought of becoming a police
officer, and maybe in hindsight when
I changed over from Corrective
Services, I should have,’ Lorraine
continues.
‘But I thought I was old then! I’ve
done my time now, and I’ve seen a lot
of change. I’ve implemented a lot of
that change within the areas that I’ve
worked, and so I have no regrets.’
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR STICKIEST
SITUATION?
Lorraine admits she hasn’t been
involved in too many sticky
situations, because she has tended to
settle prisoners before they get out of
hand.
‘But something happened not too long
ago, when I asked a prisoner to get up
one morning,’ she says. ‘He refused
to get up, I had a chat with him, and I
eventually told him he’d be getting up
whether he wanted to or not.
‘He did proceed to get up, and it was
only then that I realised he was a
very big bloke. He must have been
on steroids. I walked out of the cell,
and my colleague, a male officer, was
walking behind him.
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Queensland Police Union Journal August 2012