Weld Australia has called for greater support from industry and community organisations to help expand the Buddy Up Program, an initiative aimed at improving literacy among people in prison through peer-led learning.
Developed by Future Shapers, the Committee for Ballarat’s leadership program, in partnership with HM Prison Langi Kal Kal, the program seeks to break down barriers to education and open pathways to employment for inmates.
The program pairs learners with peer coaches and uses the Toe-by-Toe structured literacy model to deliver one-on-one support in a judgment-free environment.
According to Weld Australia, ten inmates successfully completed the pilot in 2024, with more participants enrolled for 2025.
“This is about more than just learning to read. It’s about restoring dignity, confidence, and hope,” said Ben Mitchell, director of Strategic Partnerships at Weld Australia.
“You can see the change in the way participants carry themselves. It’s giving them not just a new skill, but a belief in themselves and their future.”
Weld Australia has funded learning resources for the program and is now seeking additional partners to help expand it to other facilities. Mitchell said increased support would remove a fundamental barrier to rehabilitation.
“Literacy is the foundation for education, employment and reintegration. With more support, we can give more people in prison the opportunity to turn their lives around,” he said.
Participant feedback from the 2024 cohort has been overwhelmingly positive. One inmate said, “I feel so much more confident in reading and writing. This is not the end of my literacy journey, but has reinforced my pathway to literacy freedom.”
The initiative builds on Weld Australia’s broader social impact work, which includes partnering with Corrections Victoria and Federation University on the Vocational and Educational Training Centre of Excellence at Langi Kal Kal.
Weld said that program trains inmates to ISO 9606 international welding standards, linking them with employers and support services upon release.
“Weld Australia has a long history of advocating for training, skills development and opportunity—especially in marginalised communities,” Mitchell said.
“The prison system must be more than a place of punishment—it must also be a place of growth. Programs like Buddy Up prove that with the right support, change is possible.”
