Inside-Out: education that transforms lives and systems | RMIT

Dr Marietta Martinovic’s Inside-Out program is transforming education and rehabilitation in the Victorian corrections system by bringing together RMIT criminology and justice students, and incarcerated individuals, as equal learners.  

Since 2015, the program has expanded to seven prisons, with over 1,000 participants completing courses that build skills, confidence and critical thinking while fostering understanding and empathy across communities.

Graduates contribute to prison and community Think Tanks, delivering more than 150 policy consultations that have influenced corrections reform across Australia. Partnering with Corrections Victoria, the program also delivers staff training and talks for incarcerated individuals, promoting fairness and humane practice.  

By centering lived experience and shared learning, Inside-Out demonstrates how education can drive social change, reduce stigma and shape more just systems — turning classrooms into catalysts for reform.

Entrant: Dr Marietta Martinovic