Port Arthur: the beginning of education and training in modern Australian correctional systems

Abstract

Port Arthur was established in 1830 as a secondary prison for punishing male convicts who had been transported to Australia but had re-offended since their arrival. It was located in a remote part of south-eastern Tasmania and virtually escape proof. It was notorious for the brutal treatment of convicts and was commonly referred to as “hell on Earth”. Convicts were employed in harvesting timber, shipbuilding, agriculture, construction and supplying the colony with various commodities. Port Arthur was founded on Governor George Arthur’s belief that convicts could be reformed while being punished. He implemented a system of separation and classification, strict punishment and discipline, hard work, rewards for good behaviour, religious instruction, education and trade training. This was intended to provide convicts with the opportunity to become useful law-abiding citizens once their sentences were complete through the skills they gained in prison. However, convicts who refused to reform had a very difficult life indeed. Port Arthur also had the first juvenile prison established in the British Empire, an innovation subsequently adopted throughout the Empire. Port Arthur was also the beginning of a modern welfare system and pioneered scientific and compassionate treatment of mental illness. We have come a long way in the humane treatment of inmates since Governor Arthur’s experiments in the early 1800’s, yet many of his principles can be traced though to today’s correctional practices. It is particularly significant that education and training were seen by Arthur as having a critical role in preparing convicts for life after prison and to reduce the likelihood of re-offending, a philosophy that is still valid today.