Textiles/Garments Supervisor, Vocational Support Officer Sumeet at Casuarina Prison would not hesitate to recommend her job to anyone looking for work.
Sumeet is happy to spread the word about the satisfaction and joy she gains from knowing she is helping not only to skill up prisoners, but to motivate them to make positive changes in their lives.
“When they are about to be released I tell them I never want to see them inside again,” Sumeet said. “If I do happen to come across them in the community I’d be happy to see them in different clothes.”
In her native Delhi, Sumeet – who is a fashion designer – ran a clothes boutique selling beautiful traditional garments made of exquisite brightly coloured fabrics that are often beaded and embroidered.
It’s a far cry from making plain green uniforms for prisoners but she relishes her role at Casuarina.
“It’s so rewarding,” she said. “I once met a young man in the community who had been one of the prisoners in the workshop and he was doing well.”
Sumeet knows more than anyone about the clothes prisoners wear while in custody.
For the past three years she has managed Casuarina’s Garments Workshop where, in charge of 25 prisoners, she produces all the uniforms for the more than 4800 male prisoners in every State-owned facility across WA.
As well as shorts, tracksuit pants and windcheaters, she and her crew make aprons, caps and beanies, officers’ belts and pouches, and other incidental items.
“The prisoners all learn differently,” Sumeet said. “They love coming to work and they’re proud of what they learn to do. They appreciate the opportunity to learn new skills that they may be able to use when they are released. Even with a basic machine they can make curtains and do upholstery.
“In all the time I’ve worked at Casuarina I’ve never had a problem. I treat them with respect and they treat me with respect. We have lots of laughs and I try to motivate them and assure them there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“Some of the younger prisoners aren’t much older than my sons. Sometimes they get depressed but I tell them their sentence will be finished soon and they can go outside and start afresh.”
