Helping Incarcerated Men Rebuild Their Lives In Tasmania
When men leave prison, they often step into freedom carrying uncertainty, fear and a deep sense of shame and isolation. Brendan Sullivan hears it every day.
“Mayhem really, confusion. What happens now? Where do I go? Who’s going to accept me? Whose toes have I trodden on?” he says. “It’s an extremely difficult part of someone’s life… a pretty traumatic time for them.”
Sullivan, a former executive coach who reinvented his career during COVID, now works with incarcerated men across Tasmania to support their transition back into the community. His work was featured recently in an interview with Melissa Clarke on ABC Radio National Breakfast.
Building Support From the Inside Out
Inside Tasmanian prisons, Sullivan runs a peer support program that trains inmates to support one another—whether that means checking in on mental health, advocating for basic needs, or helping someone navigate the daily pressures of prison life.
“We’re getting a lot of success getting the prison community to be more harmonious,” he says. “Prisoners will be more supportive of each other, and more understanding of their environment.”
The program brings together men from different parts of the prison system, helping them develop empathy, leadership skills and emotional awareness. Many of these men have never before been encouraged to step into those roles.
A Pathway Out of Shame, Guilt and Fear
Sullivan’s second initiative, Building Pathways, begins months before a man is released. Prisoners are referred into the program four to six months before they walk out the prison gates, giving time to prepare foundations for new lives—housing, community connections and, perhaps most importantly, communication skills.
“Someone coming out of prison… there is a lot of shame, a lot of guilt, a lot of mental health issues facing them,” Sullivan explains. “They struggle to get their needs met.”
Rather than delivering classroom-style content, Sullivan works individually with each participant.
“We’re not bringing guys into a classroom environment—we are working with them individually, side by side,” he says. His coaching approach focuses on empowerment rather than instruction: helping men understand how they can change their lives rather than telling them what to do.
Men’s wellbeing has been a passion of Brendan's for 35 years. The former president of Men’s Resources Tasmania (MRT), he has helped the organisation push forward rather than “sitting back on our laurels and complaining.”
“Let’s get off our bums and have a crack and design something,” he says.
Sullivan’s work has gained national attention. In 2022, he won the Contribution to Men’s Work Award at the Men’s Health Awards for his role in launching the Tasmanian Men's Gathering and serving as the inaugural president of TasMen. In 2025, he was nominated in the Men's Health Champion Awards, hosted by the Australian Men's Health Forum.
Now, in 2026, he has been nominated for Tasmania’s Senior Australian of the Year, a testament to the difference he has made in the lives of men too often forgotten once they enter the prison system.
To hear the full conversation with Melissa Clarke, visit:
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/changing-oz-brendan-sullivan-reconnecting-incarcerated-men-/106113298