The Forest is a public health model that addresses the underlying causes of incarceration (time spent in prison). It is led by people who use drugs, for people who use drugs.
The Forest aims to end cycles of reincarceration for people who use drugs by supporting them when they leave prison to rejoin the community. It is a safe place where people leaving prison can go to access a comprehensive network of services, engage in meaningful activities, and find care and community.
The Forest is voluntary and peer-led. It operates independently of the criminal legal system.
Economic modelling predicts that The Forest would generate savings of around $300 million over a 4-year trial.
View the full proposal here, or read on for more information.
Watch the video to learn more
Click on the button to hear from those with lived experience, and Burnet's project team.
Watch the video on YouTube
Reducing high rates of reincarceration
Australia has one of the highest rates of reincarceration in the world.
Repeated time in prison makes the underlying causes of poor health worse for people who use alcohol and other drugs. This leads to a higher risk of homelessness, mental ill-health and death from preventable causes such as overdose and suicide.
Incarceration causes long-term negative health and social consequences for families as well as individuals. Over-investment of public money into policing and prisons means whole communities suffer from a lack of well-funded community-based health services.
Co-designing with people who use drugs
Burnet Institute has a proud history of working to end the health harms of incarceration. As global leaders in public health research and practice, we understand that how we conceptualise a problem informs the way we solve it. Recognising that people who use drugs are the experts in their own lives, we co-designed The Forest with them, placing their stories, experiences and expertise at the centre of the model.
Welcome to The Forest
The Forest integrates public health research, lived experience and community-led design.
It is a safe place where people leaving prison can go to access a comprehensive network of services, engage in meaningful activities, and find care and community.
Read The Forest proposalBenefits
We aim to establish The Forest as a unique flagship initiative of Burnet and bring together Flat Out, SHARC and Launch Housing to implement a 4-year community trial.
Rigorous economic modelling from Insight Economics predicts that, during a 4-year community trial, The Forest would produce a benefit-cost ratio of 3:1, at a minimum. This would generate cost savings of approximately $300 million.
The Forest represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It fulfils the health and social policy agenda of the Victorian Government by improving social connectedness, social inclusion, family function, workforce participation and resilience.
Over a 10-year implementation, we expect to see at least:
1,400 fewer people reincarcerated
3,300 fewer episodes of incarceration
800 people report good to excellent health
1,300 fewer people report housing instability
400 people who have previously been incarcerated employed each year.
More information
For more information, please contact amy.kirwan@burnet.edu.au or jade.lane@burnet.edu.au.
Burnet project team
Meet the project team. Together, we are translating research into better health, for all.
