“We are prepared to sacrifice the last of our beings to contribute to society.”

These are the heartfelt words of two former prisoners who are given a second chance at righting wrongs, following their decades-long incarceration for serious crimes.

One had been serving a jail sentence since 2000 for drug trafficking and the other since 2004 over a firearms-related offence.

The duo was among the successful applicants allowed by the Federal Court for...