Victorian prison staff feared $250,000 religious chaplaincy program could endanger volunteers

Prisoners in Victoria were being driven by faith-based chaplains upon their release, a review has found. Photograph: Joe Castro/AAP

The Victorian justice department spent more than $250,000 on a religious chaplaincy program that prison staff feared would put volunteers at risk, an internal report has found.

The report raised concerns that improperly trained volunteers were collecting inmates from prisons on their day of release and using the car trip to the prisoner’s accommodation to speak to them about Christianity.