Fringe Church pastor Ron Hutchinson rehabilitates domestic violence offenders through conversation

Can you keep someone out of prison, off drugs or stop them from lashing out violently just by having a conversation?

That’s the approach Ron Hutchinson has taken in an effort to rehabilitate people on the edge of society in Brisbane — and he says it’s working.

“We’ve got people who should be in jail, people who are coming out of jail, substance abuse, bad mental health, domestic violence — you name it,” Mr Hutchinson said.

Mr Hutchinson is a pastor at the Fringe Church in Redcliffe, a not-for-profit that is largely funded by him and his wife, where he and others help to integrate people back into the community.

The first step, Mr Hutchinson says, can be confrontational.

“Basically, the first conversation I have with them is, ‘Firstly,…