Finances in prison: I’m not talking about borrowing one soft drink and now owing me two. I’m talking about the state of our bank accounts and assets on the outside. People in prison in Australia face a range of issues in addition to their court ordered punishment. These then contribute to cycles of disadvantage we face upon release.
A report by Financial Counselling Australia said this is a form of “double punishment”, with people leaving prison in a worse financial position than when they entered it because the system is “stacked against them”.
The trauma of going to prison is so extreme that nothing matters anymore. Your life is destroyed, your liberty and agency are gone, and you rarely have time to get your affairs in order. One day you’re free and the next you’re dragged to your new home – a walk-in wardrobe you now share with Bob, a 50 year old repeat offender on a 100 mL of methadone.
You aren’t thinking, “oh I should really contact my bank and see if I can have my bank fees waived”.
But really, you totally should.
There are so many problems that are not your fault, just a symptom of your primary punishment.
Going to prison has a huge impact on your finances, whether through ongoing charges, missed tax returns or a lack of superannuation.
How going to prison impacts your finances
Prison impacts finances in many ways.
When you’re inside, what little money you have will be eaten away little by little until there is nothing left, and your accounts are closed. And when you’re released one day you will wish you still had that $100 that was eaten by fees, and an active account for your Centrelink to go into. Even the cheque you get upon leaving will need that active account.
Opening a new account will be an effort, and that’s if you have a good case manager. If you have an inexperienced case manager or one you don’t get along with it will be a real pain.
Finances in prison: I’m not talking about borrowing one soft drink and now owing me two. I’m talking about the state of our bank accounts and assets on the outside. People in prison in Australia face a range of issues in addition to their court ordered punishment. These then contribute to cycles of disadvantage we face upon release.
A report by Financial Counselling Australia said this is a form of “double punishment”, with people leaving prison in a worse financial position than when they entered it because the system is “stacked against them”.
The trauma of going to prison is so extreme that nothing matters anymore. Your life is destroyed, your liberty and agency are gone, and you rarely have time to get your affairs in order. One day you’re free and the next you’re dragged to your new home – a walk-in wardrobe you now share with Bob, a 50 year old repeat offender on a 100 mL of methadone.
You aren’t thinking, “oh I should really contact my bank and see if I can have my bank fees waived”.
But really, you totally should.
There are so many problems that are not your fault, just a symptom of your primary punishment.
Going to prison has a huge impact on your finances, whether through ongoing charges, missed tax returns or a lack of superannuation.
How going to prison impacts your finances
Prison impacts finances in many ways.
When you’re inside, what little money you have will be eaten away little by little until there is nothing left, and your accounts are closed. And when you’re released one day you will wish you still had that $100 that was eaten by fees, and an active account for your Centrelink to go into. Even the cheque you get upon leaving will need that active account.
Opening a new account will be an effort, and that’s if you have a good case manager. If you have an inexperienced case manager or one you don’t get along with it will be a real pain.
There are many things that add to the disadvantages you now face to act on your financial situation that aren’t considered, such as lack of identification documents, limited financial literacy, no or limited feedback to customer support to enable troubleshooting of any issues, nominating Power of Attorney’s can be challenging and ineffective, and your case worker often cannot demonstrate authority to act on your behalf. You also need to think about things like direct debits for mobile phone plans, Netflix subscriptions and gym memberships. If you’re doing a year or two or more, you will need to cancel them. You should be able to do this as you will need that money to rebuild your life when you come out, and you’re not a customer anymore either – you can’t use their services.
If you were working prior, you will get a demand from the tax office to do a tax return or face additional legal action.
Additionally, you are afforded the new and permanent disadvantage of your super being not only slowly eroded by fees, but also not being able to work and add to it as well. This is because prison work is considered a rehabilitation program and the pay is akin to pocket money, not a wage. So when everyone should be enjoying their retirement, if you’ve been to jail, you will have less superannuation to live off and might need to work for longer.
What needs to change
Unfortunately, the appetite for helping people in prison is low and this adds to post-prison trauma and reoffending rates.
As the report found, there are only a “small number” of financial counsellors across Australia working with people in prison and their families. They can do a range of things on behalf of an incarcerated individual, such as working with creditors, helping to access documents for tax returns, or getting utilities disconnected.
But there are not enough of these counsellors, and Financial Counselling Australia made a number of recommendations for improvements, including for the National Debt Hotline (1800 007 007) to be added to the free call list and for mandatory financial health checks to be offered to people in prison one week into their sentence.
I see this as not helping, but as a responsibility to act. Inmates have no agency of their own – it has been removed by the government. They are now in the custody of the state and as such are the responsibility of the state.
If you need help with your finances, check with your prison if financial counselling services are available. You may also be able to access a financial counsellor by phone arranged via a caseworker.
There are many things that add to the disadvantages you now face to act on your financial situation that aren’t considered, such as lack of identification documents, limited financial literacy, no or limited feedback to customer support to enable troubleshooting of any issues, nominating Power of Attorney’s can be challenging and ineffective, and your case worker often cannot demonstrate authority to act on your behalf. You also need to think about things like direct debits for mobile phone plans, Netflix subscriptions and gym memberships. If you’re doing a year or two or more, you will need to cancel them. You should be able to do this as you will need that money to rebuild your life when you come out, and you’re not a customer anymore either – you can’t use their services.
If you were working prior, you will get a demand from the tax office to do a tax return or face additional legal action.
Additionally, you are afforded the new and permanent disadvantage of your super being not only slowly eroded by fees, but also not being able to work and add to it as well. This is because prison work is considered a rehabilitation program and the pay is akin to pocket money, not a wage. So when everyone should be enjoying their retirement, if you’ve been to jail, you will have less superannuation to live off and might need to work for longer.
What needs to change
Unfortunately, the appetite for helping people in prison is low and this adds to post-prison trauma and reoffending rates.
As the report found, there are only a “small number” of financial counsellors across Australia working with people in prison and their families. They can do a range of things on behalf of an incarcerated individual, such as working with creditors, helping to access documents for tax returns, or getting utilities disconnected.
But there are not enough of these counsellors, and Financial Counselling Australia made a number of recommendations for improvements, including for the National Debt Hotline (1800 007 007) to be added to the free call list and for mandatory financial health checks to be offered to people in prison one week into their sentence.
I see this as not helping, but as a responsibility to act. Inmates have no agency of their own – it has been removed by the government. They are now in the custody of the state and as such are the responsibility of the state.
If you need help with your finances, check with your prison if financial counselling services are available. You may also be able to access a financial counsellor by phone arranged via a caseworker.
