By Herlyn Kaur - ABC July 2020
THIS IS EXCEPTIONAL, AND THAT'S BECAUSE COMPASSION IS PLAYING A ROLE - WITH PRACTICAL APPLICATION. THIS IS A GOOD BALANCE. IT IS UNFAIR HOW MANY CHILDREN AND TEENS ARE BROUGHT UP. LET'S GIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT AND EMBRACE HER STORY - IT'S ONE OF HOPE. HERE IS SOMEONE WHO TURNED HER STORY AROUND WITH SOME HELP AND OTHERS WILL FOLLOW. WELL DONE AUSSIES!
Tory Puntigam-Locke has come a long way from where she was only a year ago. The 27-year-old was addicted to drugs and serving a prison sentence at Perth's Melaleuca Women's Prison at that point.
"My family has been quite dysfunctional, there's been violence, there's been addiction throughout my family," she said. "I fell pregnant at 17 and I was made to abort that baby and I self-harmed."
A stint in a mental institution followed but things did not improve after Ms Puntigam-Locke got out.…