Bureau of Statistics figures show the incarceration rate of Sudanese or South Sudanese people in Australia is almost triple the average of people born here, and social services say experience in conflict is a contributing factor.
Halsum Eltahir came to Australia in 2003.
As a teenager, he was taken from his family in Khartoum and forced to serve in the Sudanese army, in the civil war that eventually led to the independence of South Sudan in 2011.
He escaped, and after several years in a refugee camp he made it to Australia.
"I don't want to get involved in this civil war and conflict and along the way that has cost me a lot of things," he says.
But the trauma of his experiences as a child soldier stayed with him.
"You feel like your world is collapsing in front of you, you hope to find a dimension a new life but everything goes wrong, and you can't stop it."
Roger Pugh from Jesuit Social Services, says many Sudanese inmates in Australian prisons have similar stories.
"Probably anywhere up to 50% would be able to tell us that sort of a story and would be able to tell us about trauma related to that experience."
Mr Pugh says the issue not only highlights a need for better services to support victims of trauma, such as child soldiers, when they first arrive in Australia - but also for the wider community to get more involved in the integration of refugees.
He says a lack of psychological support, and isolation from the community, lead some to fall back into patterns of violence.
Which then can lead to futher isolation, as he says African men are often shun from their community after getting involved with the law.
"It ends up being almost a three-fold effect. One is you get taken out of a community you're trying to settle in, two is you spend a lot of time isolated in custody, and the third is you know we do know that people in the African community can turn their back on these young men and women and it becomes very difficult for them to repair some of that ground work."
It was this phenomenon that prompted the idea for a unique program for African inmates and parolees, called AVAMP - or the African Visitation and Mentoring Program.
It's organised by Jesuit Social Services in partnership with Corrections Victoria, and according to its members it's a one of a kind in Australia.
Mentor Theo Goutzioulis visits with Halsum Eltahir every fortnight.
Mr Goutzioulis says the most important role of a mentor is to simply listen.
"Just have an open mind and listen to what Halsum has got to say about how his week has been or how his fortnight has been, the challenges he has in finding a job, the challenges in just getting around not having a vehicle."
And these days the future for Halsum Eltahir looks bright.
He's one year off from finishing his sociology degree, and says one day he's going to help other Sudanese men who've had similar experiences.
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