QUEENSLAND Country Life's Kate Stark has taken home one of the top accolades at today's Rural Press Club.
Ms Stark won the excellence in rural print journalism award for her compelling piece, Prison farm breaks cycle, about the Palen Creek Correctional Centre.
The facility is located near Rathdowney and offers inmates the opportunity to study a certificate III in agriculture with the University of Queensland, Gatton. The aim is to provide inmates with job prospects and a chance at a fresh start in the future.
Ms Stark came across the story in her day-to-day role as a markets editor and journalist with QCL.
"I was editing a market report one day and I noticed the Palen Creek Correctional Centre had sold some cattle and they'd done quite well," she said.
"I realised I hadn't seen anything like that [the facility] before and I followed it up and found out they ran an inspiring agricultural program out there in conjunction with UQ Gatton. I asked if I could come out and see the facility and their team that work with the prisoners and it spurred on from there."
"I think that it's awesome that prisoners who have never even ridden a horse have the opportunity to do that out at Palen Creek and they get involved; they're really brave in doing something that they've never been involved in."
Ms Stark has strong connections with rural Queensland having grown up on a mixed cattle and cropping property at Forest Hill in the Lockyer Valley.
Prior to studying journalism at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, she completed a certificate in animal husbandry at UQ, Gatton.
"I think we have a really important role to play as ag journalists, especially with connecting and educating people outside of our ag realm," she said.
"People who may not know what's happening in the ag sector; I think they are interested and we are giving them the opportunity to understand the rural way of life."