“I not only lost my freedom but my marriage, home and children, too”, Ms Kilroy said. “It was rock bottom, but the catalyst I needed to turn my life around and work hard for a degree in social work and then law”.

But, Ms Kilroy’s trauma did not stop there. On 7 January 1990, she witnessed her friend Debbie Dick being murdered in prison. Ms Kilroy was also stabbed during the incident.

“I remember it very clearly. It happened over the January holidays which is a notoriously difficult time for women in prison. Emotions are heightened by the fact that women miss their children and do not have access to visits”, Ms Kilroy recalled.

“At that time, I forgot my resolve to develop a better life for myself and my children and totally re-engaged in prison culture where violence is the answer to everything. All I wanted to do was revenge Debbie’s death! Fortunately, warring factions were kept apart long enough for me to regain my commitment.

“Otherwise, I would probably still be in prison. But I have never forgotten Debbie and, in part, my commitment to fight against the criminalisation and imprisonment of women is in honour of her memory and the memories of all the women and girls who have died at the hands of the prison industrial complex”.

Life in prison is not life

According to Ms Kilroy, the state “functions as a de facto violent partner” while women are in prison. The lives of inmates are controlled at every level from the time they get up to what toiletries they use to what they can eat (even whether they get sufficient food) to what they wear (even undergarments).

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Violence – particularly physical and sexual – is the norm in the women’s prisons and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls are massively over-represented.

The cost of a family or legal visit is a strip search, which is particularly retraumatising for most women who have experienced sexual assault. And – when women “crack” and threaten or attempt self-harm – Ms Kilroy said that they are “punished by solitary confinement”.

“Prisons are truly horrific places and the trauma of imprisonment only serves to increase the chances that women will return time after time.” said Ms Kilroy.

“The last time I was released from prison, the officers told me I would be back. I have never returned to a life in handcuffs to prove them wrong. I will not be limited by the stain of imprisonment.

“I am not special. I see so many women who have been in prison as deserving as I am who are not public figures and are constrained perceptions that they are first and foremost ‘criminals’ regardless of the social good they have done for two to four decades. They are young women who despite imprisonment in the child protection system have finished school. They are women who have completed study and got a job post-release, despite a criminal record and continuing to live with trauma.”

Sisters Inside

Before leaving prison for the last time, Ms Kilroy made a promise to her fellow inmates that she would establish an organisation to advocate their human rights and to improve their access to services and support both inside prison and post-release.

In 1992, she delivered on her promise by establishing Sisters Inside, an organisation which continues to advocate the human rights of women in prison and provides them with access to programs and services.

“Debbie Dick’s murder forced prison authorities to recognise the impact of poor prison conditions, particularly overcrowding”, said Ms Kilroy. “They set up a number of prisoner committees that engaged women prisoners in running the prison. I was involved in these groups while in prison. I left prison with clear insight that the cycle of poverty and abuse leads to imprisonment. Having firsthand knowledge has assisted me at Sisters Inside. I am proud that we have continued to maintain our commitment to criminalised women, mothers, kids and young people to this day”.

Pursuing a career in law

After her stints in prison, Ms Kilroy believed that there was no better way to change the criminal justice system than to become a lawyer. In 2007, her dream became a reality, and she was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Queensland – the only drug trafficker in Australia to have done so.

“I was mostly relieved on my admission day but also excited,” recalled Ms Kilroy. “These emotions were quickly replaced by gratitude to the many people who contributed to this achievement, both inside and outside the legal fraternity. Those who believed in me, those who encouraged me to believe in myself and see new possibilities, those who supported me without judgment and those who mentored me in the skills I need to take a leading role in challenging injustice.

Ms Kilroy now practises in criminal law and child protection and leads a team of five at law firm, Kilroy & Callaghan. And, at 60, Ms Kilroy tells Lawyers Weekly that she is only getting started in her mission to change the criminal justice system. “My mission as a lawyer and through my work at Sisters Inside is to address the complete lack of public accountability implicit throughout the carceral state and contribute to building a society which is not driven by surveillance and control.

“A society that does not need prisons”.

Advice for those wanting to pursue a career in law

Ms Kilroy also has some advice for those from the “wrong side of the tracks” thinking about becoming lawyers: “Just do it! We need more lawyers, particularly criminal lawyers, who have lived experience as people involved in the criminal justice system.”

“We need more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lawyers and lawyers from diverse cultural backgrounds. We need more lawyers who have been criminalised or imprisoned themselves or who have lived with homelessness or family violence or who have experienced the outcomes of these mental health issues or substance abuse. You could even combine the two by being a legal practitioner and playing a collective advocacy role like me. There are so many opportunities to use your lived experience to make the world a better one,” she said.

Stefanie Costi is a Law Graduate at Fox & Staniland Lawyers.