Rehabilitative needs and treatment of Indigenous offenders in ...

QCS also provides a culturally-specific sexual offending program forIndigenous offenders. The Indigenous Sexual Offending programaccommodates offenders with both high and moderate risks. The programtargets the psychological, social and lifestyle factors associated with sexualoffending, and it has been specifically designed to accommodate cultural,custom or language considerations relevant to Indigenous offenders.This Indigenous specific program is only offered at the Lotus GlenCorrectional Centre in northern Queensland, where there is the most demand.In most cases, Indigenous sex offenders in custody at other Queenslandcentres will be moved to Lotus Glen correctional centre for the duration of theprogram. The program runs between three and nine months (depending onindividual treatment needs and risk levels). Lotus Glen offers a rolling versionof the program to accommodate new participants throughout the year, butalso offers closed versions of the program, to be completed by the sameindividuals with similar needs and risk levels.Substance MisuseSubstance misuse treatment programs are available to offenders in all QCScentres and offenders serving community-based orders. There are threeprograms treating substance misuse. This includes a high intensity program(Pathways), moderate intensity program (Getting Smart) and a maintenanceprogram (Smart Recovery). 9The Ending Offending program is a cognitive behavioural program designedto meet the needs of Indigenous offenders in a culturally appropriate manner.The overall aim of this program is to modify the drinking and offendingbehaviour of Indigenous offenders. Furthermore, it can prepare Indigenousoffenders for additional intensive intervention appropriate to their level of riskof re-offending. An Indigenous Peer Education program is also available innorthern Queensland to support early referral and access to substancemisuse treatment.The Ending Offending program is a 12 hour intervention, made up of sixsessions, and delivered over three to six weeks (but can be delivered in aslittle as three days). Due to the short length of the Ending Offending program,Indigenous prisoners in custody for less than 12 months can be enrolled.However, this is dependent on the program demands of high risk offenders(generally in prison under sentence for longer than 12 months). The programis run through a number of Queensland correctional centres and Probationand Parole offices. Indigenous offenders may be transferred to anothercorrectional centre for the program if it is not available where they are servingtheir sentence.9 The Getting Smart program replaced the Substance Abuse: Preventing and ManagingRelapse program in 2007.36