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Better Pathways - Integrated Response to Women's Offending and Reoffending

Why has Better Pathways been developed?

Better Pathways is a strategy developed to tackle the causes of women's offending and to try and help break the cycle of women's reoffending.

The number of female prisoners in Victoria has more than doubled over the last decade. In 2008, the female prisoner population was 260 compared with just over 100 in 1995.

The greatest increase occurred between 1998 and 2003 when the number of women sentenced or remanded in prison custody in Victoria increased by 84 per cent. This figure is nearly triple the growth rate of our male prisoner population over the same five-year period. 

The implications of women's imprisonment are far-reaching, placing the state's prison system under unprecedented pressure. Social and economic costs are incurred not only by the community and the women themselves but also by their families, particularly their children. As a result, increasing numbers of Victorian children will experience dislocated and disadvantaged lives, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will be exposed to the criminal justice system later in life.