KEENAN Mundine has spent more years in jail than he’s had a tax file number.

In and out of prison since his teens, he thought he would spend his life behind bars.

But a harmless joke heard while serving time inside Goulburn maximum security prison changed him forever.

Mr Mundine, then in his 20s, was talking to a group of indigenous inmates when they joked about serving a life sentence between them.

“It was a huge wake up call,” he told news.com.au

“I looked at these two older guys who were laughing, smiling and joking about it and I thought I don’t want to be like this, I don’t want this life.”

Now a case worker and Aboriginal justice advocate in Sydney, Mr Mundine has dramatically turned his life around and is happily married to wife Carly with whom he shares baby son Khaius.

Mr Mundine, who is a passionate advocate for lowering indigenous incarceration rates, said statistically the odds were against him, but he was determined to make a difference.

“The fact that my son is 24 more times more likely to end up in jail simply because of the colour of his skin is depressing,” he said.

Mr Mundine still faces ongoing battles with the legal system due to his prior record, something he is not proud of.

But he hopes it’s something he can use to stop others making the same mistakes he did.

Growing up in Redfern’s notorious ‘Block’, Mr Mundine said his troubles began after his mother died when he was six.

Around a year later his father also passed away, leaving him and his two older brothers Jai and Keith orphans.

While the boys were taken in by family members, Mr Mundine said they weren’t capable of giving him the support and guidance he desperately needed. He soon fell into the wrong crowd and started stealing and using alcohol and drugs.

“I was looking for acceptance and found it,” the now 30-year-old said.

By 14 he was serving time in juvenile detention for burglary offences and began a downward cycle of crime, jail and re-release.

He said part of the problem was that he never had positive role models to look up to or encouragement to get an education or better himself.

And while he’s definitely not proud of his past he is aware of how far he has come and how he can influence the next generation.

“I don’t glorify the high impact my actions had not just on my family but on my whole community,” he said.

“When I was growing up in the early 1990s, drugs and alcohol had a huge impact on my community.”

He has served his time and repaid his debt to society but said anyone who thinks jail is easy has no idea.

“Jail does far more harm than good,” he said.

“People deserve a second and even third chance.

“In prison I felt hopeless, and I couldn’t think about life beyond the walls I was surrounded by.”

But after hearing the Koori inmates make that joke in Goulburn, Mr Mundine knew he had to change so enrolled in an intensive 18-month drug and alcohol rehabilitation course.

He eventually moved to Parklea Prison and was one of 10 people accepted into the program. Being a repeat offender, he was the one considered most likely to fail.

He has since proved the statistics wrong and while his story may sound sad he insists his is one of hope.

“I’ve spent more than half my life involved in the criminal justice system,” he said.

“Every major birthday has been spent in jail.

“My story is not a sad story, I don’t want people to feel upset about my story because I think it’s one of courage and resilience and proof change is possible with the right support.”

Not only has he shown that you can escape the cycle of incarceration and recidivism but has set up his own business — Inside Out Aboriginal Justice Consultancy — which advises agencies on criminal justice and out-of-home care.

He said he believed there was systematic racism in the criminal justice system and it was time indigenous people were included in the conversation about prison reform.

“I really want to target policy reform, that’s now my big passion,” he said.

Mr Mundine said he hopes his own experience can help provide a voice in issues like these which affect indigenous people and even met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last year, urging him to take more action to lower the indigenous incarceration rate.

He also called on the Australian Government to set targets to reduce the numbers of indigenous people in prison.

SHOCKING STATISTIC

Australia’s high indigenous incarceration rates were highlighted in this year’s Amnesty International State of the World’s Human Rights report.

Not only did it find that indigenous youth are 24 times more likely to end up in jail than the rest of the population but were also more likely to face court.

Rodney Dillon, indigenous Rights Adviser at Amnesty International Australia, said Mr Mundine’s example showed why it was so crucial to have more indigenous-led programs which could help prevent and lower the incarceration rates.

“Keenan is a bright young Aboriginal leader, but he shouldn’t have had to go through all of this to get to where he is today,” he told news.com.au.

“If Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids face difficult situations in their lives, they need help, not to get locked up. We need to have more indigenous-led programs that can support them and their families.”

Mr Dillon called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to launch a national action plan on youth justice which is “a national problem which needs a national solution”.

debra.killalea@news.com.au