Former prisoner Anthony Smith is free but unable to navigate the modern digital world, leaving him wondering if he would be better off back in prison.
Mr Smith was released from Risdon Prison three months ago after serving five years for armed robbery.
The disruption in his digital development has him struggling to reintegrate into society.
"There's no digital experience in Risdon Prison," he said.
"We've missed out on five years of technology, and technology has come a long way in five years."
Mr Smith said it affected everything from setting up a MyGov account to using a smartphone, or paying for parking.
"Some days I just wish I could go back … to jail and everything would be a lot simpler," he said.
"It makes me feel belittled, that's what it makes me feel. It makes me feel like I'm unworthy … it's like mental torture."
Mr Smith said his lack of digital understanding made getting a job and securing housing challenging.
"I've gone from stacking shelves at Woolworths to picking up rubbish," he said.
"I've looked at heaps of jobs and most people want you to register online. Why can't you just drop a resume in instead of doing the resume online? It's really, really hard."
Mr Smith wants to see more funding and resources to equip people with the digital skills they need to navigate modern society.
"We have choices and we make them, but if they made more support there for us, we wouldn't re-offend again," he said.
"We wouldn't go back to jail, some of us would actually get out and have a good shot at a normal life.
"We just get out of jail, and we're just released straight onto the streets, nowhere to live, it's just how it is, it's how it's always going to be I think."
'Give them more support'
Ian Wilkinson is a case manager for the Salvation Army's Beyond the Wire program and supports inmates to transition back into society.
He said the divide could be "quite profound", with some people coming to him having never used a mobile phone before.
Mr Wilkinson said across the 21 TasTAFE-operated courses offered in the state's prisons, there were opportunities to develop basic computer skills and digital skills.
But he said the majority of courses were concentrated in Ron Barwick, a minimum-security prison, and Mary Hutchinson.
"The idea would be in maximum or medium if they show good compliance, good behaviour, as you progress through your prison sentence, you go up the road to Ron Barwick, then you can access the education process," he said.
"So people may not actually get access to these while they're in their sentence."
Mr Wilkinson said the issue was compounded by inmates spending more time locked in their cells because of staff shortages, limiting access to the programs.
He said many inmates had acquired brain injuries, poor mental health, drug and alcohol addiction, and low education, and because programs were run on a voluntary basis, shame could prevent them from participating.
With each inmate costing the Tasmanian taxpayer $140,000 per year, Mr Wilkinson said it was in the state's best interest to take a restorative justice approach to imprisonment.
"They're incarcerated, but give them more support and give them access to these systems so when they come out, they've got the confidence to continue in society," he said.
Mr Wilkinson said we should look to countries, like Norway, that focused on education and rehabilitation.
"They copy what's going on in society, so everything that's been taught to the prisoner is relevant to what's going on in society," he said.
Mr Wilkinson said upon release, inmates needed wrap-around services and support to bolster their confidence.
"You'll find that they have got a shame factor, that they feel that they're not worthy … they've never been told that they can achieve something in their life … so you've got to tell them this, you've got to motivate them in that space," he said.
Expanding access
In a statement, a Department of Justice spokesperson said the Tasmania Prison Service (TPS) recognised digital literacy was important for helping offenders navigate a range of social services and support services on release.
They said inmates with appropriate security classifications were allowed to use computers.
Inmates could also access applications, digital tools and resources including Moodle — a virtual learning platform, Khan Academy courses, an offline version of Wikipedia, legal resources, and TasTAFE's offline learning platform.
The spokesperson said TasTAFE had rolled out new digital skills units across courses delivered at Ron Barwick prison, and intended to expand delivery to Mary Hutchinson and Risdon in 2023.
"This enables inmates to acquire and practice a diverse range of digital literacy skills which they are able to then use in their transition and reintegration post-release," the spokesperson said.
