In Australia today, reoffending rates continue to climb — and public anger often wrongly falls on the shoulders of judges.
But judges are not the problem.
The system they are forced to operate within is the real issue — a system designed not for true rehabilitation, but for continuous reoffending and recycling through courts and prisons.
At Practice Makes Permanent, we believe it’s time for an honest conversation about where the real accountability lies — and how transformational programs based on neuroscience can radically reduce reoffending and restore public trust.
The Impossible Position Judges Are Placed In
Judges are constantly pressured:
- By the public demanding harsher sentences
- By governments expecting quick decisions
- By a legal system focused more on punishment than on sustainable rehabilitation
Yet, judges can only work with the programs and models provided to them — and those models are outdated, ineffective, and economically motivated.
Current court-mandated programs like:
- Drug and Alcohol Treatment Orders
- MERIT (Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment)
…while well-intentioned, fail to deliver deep, lasting transformation because they focus only on symptoms, not causes.
Result:
- High rates of relapse
- High rates of recidivism
- Billions of taxpayer dollars wasted annually
Why Transformation is the Missing Piece
Transformation, built on the latest neuroscience and neuroplasticity research, addresses the root causes of offending behaviour — not just the surface symptoms.
Key facts:
- Neuroscience shows that brains can change with the right targeted interventions (Doidge, 2007).
- Programs that teach emotional regulation, resilience, and identity transformation reduce reoffending dramatically (Lipsey, 2009).
- Merely treating addiction or anger is not enough; rebuilding thinking patterns and emotional control is crucial.
Our programs at Practice Makes Permanent:
- Use evidence-based neuroplasticity principles
- Empower individuals to rebuild new neural pathways
- Develop sustainable life skills, resilience, and self-leadership
- Help individuals move beyond their old identity of “offender” toward a new, pro-social future
The Cost of Reoffending to Taxpayers and Society
It costs approximately $147,000 per year per prisoner to house an individual in the Australian prison system (Productivity Commission, 2023).
Add to this:
- Court costs
- Policing costs
- Victim compensation
- Loss of productivity
The result is billions of dollars wasted — every year — on a system that simply recycles human beings through a revolving door of hopelessness.
But the real cost isn’t just financial:
- Communities are less safe.
- Victims are not truly protected.
- Families are torn apart.
- Generations of dysfunction are allowed to continue.
By refusing to implement transformational programs, the government is placing society at massive risk.
The Hypocrisy: Government Knows Transformation Works — But Ignores It
It’s not ignorance.
The Australian government has already spent millions of dollars researching rehabilitation and transformation-based programs (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2022).
They know transformation works.
Yet why don’t they use it?
Because a system built on reoffending is profitable.
- Court systems stay busy.
- Prisons stay funded.
- Industries reliant on managing — not solving — problems continue to thrive.
Real transformation gives people back power over their lives — and people in control are harder to govern and profit from.
Why Neuroscience-Based Coaching Outperforms Court Programs
Programs like MERIT and Drug Courts tend to:
- Focus narrowly on substance use
- Offer temporary behavioural incentives
- Fail to rewire core emotional patterns
In contrast, our neuroscience-based coaching:
- Target’s identity change, not just behaviour change
- Uses mindfulness, reappraisal, and resilience training backed by decades of brain research (Siegel, 2012)
- Teaches individuals to think, feel, and act differently, permanently
The brain’s plasticity is the most powerful untapped tool for rehabilitation — and we know how to leverage it.
Our Programs Align With the Rehabilitation Act
The NSW Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, under the purposes of sentencing, highlights rehabilitation as a key goal.
Our transformational programs perfectly align with this objective by:
- Providing practical, daily tools for behavioural change
- Restoring agency and responsibility to offenders
- Creating sustainable new pathways rather than short-term compliance
A Call to Action: Judges, Courts, and Government
Judges should be given better tools — not blame.
We invite the judiciary, policymakers, and correctional services to:
- Engage with us at Practice Makes Permanent
- Learn how transformational coaching can radically reduce reoffending
- Save the Australian taxpayer billions
- Build a safer, stronger, healthier society
Transformation is not a dream — it’s a scientifically proven pathway that only needs the courage to be implemented.
Change is created with choice.
Some individuals will not make that choice — and in those cases, prison remains necessary to protect society.
But those who do want to change must be given a real, genuine opportunity to transform.
The reality is that the current system is operating under false consciousness — misleading society into believing it is safe, while continuing to fuel cycles of reoffending, wasted lives, and broken communities.
This deception harms not only the public but also the very integrity of the justice system itself.
The government must take urgent responsibility — not just for the safety of society, but for the protection and credibility of judges as well.
Judges are increasingly put at risk — facing public criticism, political pressure, and personal blame — when government policies set them up to fail.
By ignoring judges’ recommendations for better rehabilitation and ignoring proven research into transformation and neuroscience-based approaches, the government is actively undermining the very justice system it claims to defend.
The risks of continuing this neglect are serious:
- Public trust in the judiciary will erode further,
- Respect for legal decisions will decline,
- The judiciary will continue to be scapegoated for the failures of policymakers,
- Communities will remain unsafe, and
- Taxpayer money will continue to be wasted on a revolving-door system.
If real transformational change is not embraced, judges will be left carrying the burden of a broken system they cannot repair without government action.
Society deserves better. Judges deserve better. And those ready to change deserve a real chance to transform.
Ready to Transform the System?
The time for real change is now. Judges, policymakers, and the public must act before the cycle of reoffending continues to drain resources, trust, and lives. If you’re ready to help us create a real, lasting transformation in the justice system — one that puts people first and builds safer communities — we’re here to help. Our neuroscience-based, transformational programs offer the solutions needed to make a genuine difference.
Contact us today to join the movement and make real change happen.
Visit www.practicemakespermanent.com.au
Or call us at 02 4605 0646 — Let’s work together to turn this around.
References:
- Australian Institute of Criminology. (2022). Reoffending and rehabilitation research papers.
- Productivity Commission. (2023). Report on Government Services: Justice sector.
- Doidge, N. (2007). The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. Viking.
- Lipsey, M. W. (2009). The primary factors that characterize effective interventions with juvenile offenders: A meta-analytic overview. Victims & Offenders, 4(2), 124–147.
- Siegel, D. J. (2012). The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are. Guilford Press.