In 2015, Associate Professor Marietta Martinovic commenced the first Australian Inside Out Prison Exchange Program (IOPEP), established through a partnership between RMIT University and Corrections Victoria.

Each week, criminal justice students travelled to a prison to learn alongside incarcerated people. At the completion of the program, both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ students expressed a desire to continue working together in order to advocate for systemic changes to prison practices. From this, the first Australian prison-based Think Tank was formed, and due to the success and expansion of the IOPEP to a further five prisons, there are now six prison-based Think Tanks in operation.

Over time, ‘inside’ students were paroled or released, yet were unable to remain members of the prison-based Think Tanks. Correctional policy prevents previously incarcerated persons from entering prison as a volunteer. This barrier to continued involvement in criminal justice transformation led to the creation of the first community-based Think Tank – Beyond the Stonewalls Advisory Collective (BSWAC). Since 2020, we have worked with Corrections Victoria and other stakeholders to improve policies and practices by establishing common ground between ex-prisoners, academics, and criminal justice practitioners, which has resulted in valuable and effective change. By operating in the community, it allows for us to be consulted by a broader range of stakeholders and facilitates a meeting place for people who would otherwise be working on solutions independently. The success of BSWAC comes from bringing together a variety of voices from the criminal justice sector and uniting around a vision for change.