She tried to look for support for her family but found there were no services that helped people with disabilities in prison.
“I knocked on every door and they said ‘no, we work with drug addicts, we work with people that are mentally unwell, we don’t work with disabilities,’” Ms Powney said.
“There was nothing there.”
In response, Ms Powney decided to draw on her own counselling qualifications and experience to start her own organisation, Gallawah.
Ten months later, the business employs 35 staff and supports 78 clients from all over Victoria and NSW, with another 30 people on the waiting list.
“I just thought I would do support co-ordination for like 10 participants in the justice system and make a difference,” Ms Powney said.
“I never, ever thought it’d be this big, this quick.”
As an independent NDIS co-ordination service, Gallawah helps clients not only in the justice system, but also provides disability support for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
It also helps to house the homeless population in Shepparton.
“We (work with) a lot of clients that have complex needs, like schizophrenia, disability, drug use and mental health, so very much dual diagnosis,” Ms Powney said.
Ms Powney said there were a lot of extra barriers that people with disabilities faced in the justice system.
For people like Ms Powney’s son, simple tasks like filling in paperwork when he’s moved to a different prison can be daunting.
“He can’t fill out the documents, so we might go two weeks without a phone call,” she said.
“By the time we get on to the system, it might be another two weeks before we hear from him.”
Gallawah support co-ordinator Trevor Barker said the new organisation had filled a gap in the system.
“What Tina and her family have done is establish an incredibly responsive and supportive service that’s quite unique,” he said.
“It provides cultural support, and looks at people’s whole situation, not just part of it.”
Ms Powney said she was grateful she could help those struggling to find support.
“I started off just doing work with the Indigenous community, but then I sat there, and I said to my family, ‘but what about the other mums?’” she said.
“I just didn’t want another mum to be heartbroken the way I was.”
