Port Lincoln Prison Farm Program Aims to Reduce Recidivism Through Horticulture Training

On a 180-hectare farm in South Australia, a man ruffles through lettuce picking out bugs.

It's a spring day and the canola farms sway on the hills as bright as the prison uniform he's worn for the past seven years.

For inmate Ryan (not his real name) working in the Port Lincoln garden produce area is more than a temporary escape from the prison walls, it's a road to a better life.

When he was incarcerated back in 2019, Ryan says he was "partially illiterate".

Now, he has basic literacy and numeracy and has obtained a Certificate IV in Horticulture.

He hopes to work in the industry when he's eventually released.

"For the first time I feel like I've got a bright future," he says.

Prison to plate produce

For the past six decades, low-security inmates at Port Lincoln Prison have managed a commercial hydroponics set-up and five hectares of gardens to harvest fruit and vegetables to deliver to local retailers across the regional city.

The prison farm also comprises 180 hectares of cropping fields and livestock paddocks which are also managed partially by the prisoners.

Today, 16 of the 178 prisoners in Port Lincoln are involved in the garden produce program.

Those inmates tend the garden, overseen and supervised by a correctional industry officer Monday to Friday.

The prison's general manager Paul Oldacre said the produce cultivated is used in the prison kitchen with the surplus sold off to local retailers.

"We supply cafes, restaurants, hotels and we've done that for many years," he said.

The profit from those sales is reinvested into the state's overall Department for Correctional Services funding.

"It's sustainable. It's cyclic, it just happens every year in and year out," Mr Oldacre said.

"I see people on the program come out the other side and feel better within themselves.

"At the end they have the confidence to go out and gain employment."

Reducing recidivism

South Australia has the country's lowest reoffending rates at 36.8 per cent, according to the Minister for the Department of Police and Correctional Services Michael Brown.

As the department sought to further tighten this number, programs like the one operating at Port Lincoln Prison was an important part of its "broader approach to reducing recidivism".

Released in August, the Department for Correctional Services Strategic Plan for 2026-2030's goal is to reduce recidivism by 30 per cent in the next four years.

Mr Oldacre said the prison had already met the previous state government initiative of reducing recidivism by 20 per cent from 2020-2026.

"We ticked that box so I'm confident we'll meet the new target," he said.

The Strategic Plan underscores the priority of delivering vocational training during incarceration so inmates leave custody with industry-ready skills and access to employment.

"You only have to be out here and walk amongst the guys that work out here ... they take pride in what they grow," Mr Oldacre said.

"They take pride knowing ... they're helping and supplying businesses ... contributing to the community, to the economy."

Prison food a hit with restaurant

The work of the inmates on Port Lincoln Prison farm contributes to the local culinary scene.

For a regional city at the bottom of the rugged Eyre Peninsula, the program means fresh produce that bypasses long distribution networks.

"Most produce comes 650 kilometres from Adelaide Markets," said Shana Badman, head chef at Port Lincoln restaurant Del Giornos.

That produce can take anywhere between two and four days to arrive, and produce can be damaged in transit.

"You can't really find anything close to how nice and fresh and beautiful the produce is so close to home," she said.

The restaurant's owner Kris Bunder said the venue had been using the prison produce for more than two decades.

"Whatever we get from the prison, we save money from buying it from a producer from Adelaide," he said.

"It's priced very well so it's very economical for us.

"We know it's produced and grown locally."

Mr Bunder said there would never been any issues from customers over the food's prison origins.

"We display our suppliers at the back of our menus, including the prison, we've not had any negative feedback at all," he said.

Ms Badman said the seasonal menu meant the kitchen was constantly adapting to Eyre Peninsula seasons.

"It keeps things nice and new, nice and fresh," she said.

"I think it's almost like a challenge to keep things fresh. There's always something new."