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During this period of incarceration in Van Diemen's (1839-1853) what was known as "probation" was taking place. It was in a way surprisingly progressive for the time, with men serving 7-14 year terms being sent to these more or less open settlements to undergo a mixture of education, religious instruction, and of course, hard labor. (life sentences were sent to more typical, and generally brutal prison institutions IE Port Arthur. ) You would work your way up a ladder of progressively lighter stages until receiving a ticket-of-leave and then a pardon. A belief in reformation was forming over simple punishment.  (It should be noted Probation was created in response to the assignment system where convicts were essentially sent to land owners to work under them as their slaves more or less, which was perceived as too lenient, as some masters were nicer than others, or considerably crueler, and the British wanted uniformity in their system)

Of course, things were not nearly Utopian. Work was hard and punishments for infractions could be extreme. As transport to the mainland ceased, convicts were sent across to Van Diemen's land and the massive influx did not have nearly enough budget to adequately operate as intended. Corruption and discontent spread, cruel overseers and bullying among convicts, and depreciated land value for colonists made just about everyone unhappy.

 Still, there was a deep irony in the punishment of being sent from Europe to Australia being considered by many in Europe to be a fate worse than death (many preferring to hang) in that once arrived, on average an Australian convict had a better diet, more medical care, government provided shelter, and a lower death-rate/lifespan than their working class British counterpart.