Victoria plans to get prisoners to help maintain roads. How common is prison work in Australia and what are the issues?

Victorian Premier Ben Carroll said this week that if Labor wins the November state election, it will pilot a program that would see supervised, minimum-security incarcerated people working on roadside maintenance.

They would be paid to undertake tasks such as collecting rubbish, mowing lawns, weeding and cleaning graffiti, which the premier says would free up skilled maintenance crews to fix potholes.

People living in low-security facilities in Victoria already do day release programs to help with gardening, weeding and rubbish collection.

But how common is it for people in Australian prisons to work – and where’s the line between meaningful work experience and exploitation? What kinds of work do incarcerated people do? In 2024-25, 80% of eligible people in prison were employed .

But there are many reasons someone may be ineligible to work, including full-time education, training, illness, and short-term imprisonment.

Some states and territories also have a policy of not providing work.

This means many incarcerated people are not involved in work programs in or outside of prison.

Corrective Services Industries is a work and education program within Corrective Services NSW that manages prison-based employment in that state.

It employs more than 5,000 people in custody (out of a population of about 13,000 ).

Through this program, incarcerated people deliver essential services across NSW prisons in industries such as dairy, laundry and building maintenance.

They also produce commercial services, including making flags .

In Victoria, people in prison produce number plates , while those in South Australia produce timber furniture items sold to wholesalers.

Across Australia , 51% of eligible people in prison are employed in service industries and 28% work for commercial industries.

The majority of work done by incarcerated people is done inside the prison, not out in the broader community.