The Wiradjuri woman, 39, was released from Melbourne custody in early 2025 after serving three-and-a-half years for offences including kidnapping.
She claims her isolation, and occasional restrictions on her access to open air, undermined her mental wellbeing and set back her rehabilitation prospects.
"I'm still very anxious, and my mental health sometimes gets really poor and I isolate," she told AAP.
"You can't expect people to be good citizens when they are released if you treat them like animals in prison."
Now, she fears the Victorian government is paving the way for a new generation of prisoners to suffer in the same way.
Under a bill now before state parliament, the prisoner's right to an hour of open air a day would become subject to "operational considerations".
These include inmate safety and prison management and would add to a rule allowing outdoor access to be cancelled due to poor weather.
The bill passed the lower house in June with bipartisan support and is expected to be debated in the upper house within days.
Human rights and legal groups, including the Human Rights Law Centre, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Fitzroy Legal Service and Jesuit Social Services, have called for it to be scrapped.
They are expected to join a protest against the legislation outside parliament on Wednesday.
The Victorian government itself has admitted the reforms may be incompatible with elements of the state's human rights charter.
An override declaration was made to prevent the charter from applying to the relevant sections of the bill.
It also ensures the legislation does not have to be re-enacted every five years, as is ordinarily the case where the charter is overridden.
"The government does not take this step lightly," then-corrections minister Paul Hamer told parliament in June.
Mr Hamer, who now serves as minister for roads, said the extraordinary move was necessary for the safe management of open air access and prison functions.
The bill was developed in response to international crime boss George Marrogi's Supreme Court case against Victoria's Department of Justice in January.
Marrogi, who is serving a 38-year prison sentence for murder and drug trafficking, successfully argued his human rights had been breached over his limited access to open air in custody.
Victoria's department of justice is appealing the ruling, with a hearing set down for October 23 and a cross-appeal filed by Marrogi.
The bill would also limit the government's financial liability arising from the Marrogi case, ensuring it is not on the hook for any past loss or damage related to limitations of the right.
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