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About Time is the national newspaper for Australian prisons and detention facilities

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ISSUE NO. 27
October 2026
How to Get Better Sleep
Some practical tips for a better night’s rest
Health
Ask Stacey!
What you need to know about AI
Reintegration
Criminal Record Checks  
‘Your past doesn’t have to impact your future’
Mob
Learn to Draw Cartoons!
A beginner’s guide to a fun new drawing style
Learn
READ THE LATEST VOICES FROM LOCKDOWNS
THE LATEST VOICES FROM LOCKDOWNS

Medication Saved My Life After I Lost Custody of My Son

By Bec

It was a relief to receive a formal diagnosis this year, after a tumultuous time, and medication saved my life and has helped me feel more stable emotionally than I’ve ever felt.

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
A green charcoal illustration of medication.
Ethan Cassidy
By Marley

An interview with Marley, who writes from a prison in QLD.

ISSUE NO. 28
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1 MIN READ
By Justin

An interview with Justin, from a prison in NSW.

ISSUE NO. 28
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3 MIN READ
By Briar

Homelessness, addiction, no family, turned right back to what got us here in the first place. I think this is a huge problem for especially young vulnerable women to have more support on release!

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
By Julian

Over the past 5 years I have completed numerous courses and obtained tickets for forklift – working at heights, confined space, first aid, and test and tag.

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
By Steven

Being an older gay man myself, I have noticed a lot of younger guys in here are maybe a little confused about their sexuality.

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ

Inspector’s Corner – October 2026

By About Time

Including a report released into youth education in Tasmania, a review into transfer of children to adult prisons in VIC and more.

ISSUE NO. 28
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4 MIN READ
A green charcoal illustration of a person holding a magnifying glass up to a small prison, as if they're inspecting it.
Ethan Cassidy

New Police Powers: Extradition Warrants

By Benjamin Aitken

An arrest warrant gives police authority to arrest a person. But what happens when that person is believed to be inside somebody else’s home?

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
An image of three police walking down a Victorian street.
Willy Pleasance

Around the Country – October 2026

By About Time

Including a new strategy to reduce recidivism in SA, a proposed mandatory sentencing for certain breaches of bail in QLD, body-worn cameras coming to max-security prisons in WA and more.

ISSUE NO. 28
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3 MIN READ
A green charcoal illustration of Australia, with it's divided state boundaries.
Ethan Cassidy

The Five Senses

Various

We invited formerly incarcerated folk to write about an object from prison life and describe it using the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.

ISSUE NO. 28
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5 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
ONLINE NEWS

The True Number of People in Prison Who Have Jobs

By Damien Linnane

While corrections departments around the country report that more than 80 per cent of people in prison are working, in reality only about half actually have employment while in custody. This is because of how these departments are reporting the rate of employment and who is counted as being “eligible”.

ONLINE NEWS
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4 MIN READ
Area 1-S Block Cell 120, by Megan, #5633, 40cm x 50c, acrylic on canvas, Boom Gate Gallery
ONLINE NEWS

No Fresh Air, Little Privacy: Inside Queensland’s Newest Youth Prison

By Denham Sadler

Children are being held in an “overwhelmingly institutional” watch-house centre with little if any access to fresh air, few opportunities to call home and no privacy, according to a new report.

ONLINE NEWS
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2 MIN READ
Queensland Inspector of Custodial Services

Ask the Doctor: Acne (Pimples)

By Harley Stiebel

Today, we’re talking about skin, in particular, acne – the annoying pimples you thought would cease once you left the clutches of puberty, and yet, here you are as a 20, 30, 40-year-old still wondering why your skin hates you so much.

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
A green charcoal illustration of someone looking at a pimple in the mirror.
Ethan Cassidy
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Mob

AMC Artwork on Display in Canberra

By About Time

A number of pieces of art by First Nations who are incarcerated in Canberra, or have previously been, are on display for the public as part of a new exhibition.

ISSUE NO. 28
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3 MIN READ
A First Nation's artwork piece of a cockatoo in the centre of a brown background and dot pattern. Paint on canvas.
Pink Cockatoo, Acrylic paint on stretched canvas, 600mm x 900mm

What the Magistrate Sees Before You Speak

By Anthony Burke

How your behaviour and appearance in court and the information you give your lawyer can help the court understand your story.

ISSUE NO. 28
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3 MIN READ
A green charcoal illustration of two people talking. One doesn't agree with what the other is saying, there is a thought bubble with a cross above it's head.
Ethan Cassidy

Ask Stacey!

Staying in touch and why can’t I study inside?

By Stacey Stokes

Welcome to another exciting instalment of Ask Stacey!

ISSUE NO. 28
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3 MIN READ
A green charcoal illustration of four people standing amidst lots of question marks. The people are looking in different directions.
Ethan Cassidy

Learn Origami!

By Michael Clonaris

Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. It allows you to turn a flat piece of paper into nearly anything you can think of, like an animal, flower or a hat.

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
A green charcoal illustration of different folded pieces of paper.
Ethan Cassidy

Shantaram: To Hell and Back

By Mark Mi Words

Gregory David Roberts broke the mould when he released his masterpiece in 2003. Weighing in at 933 pages, Shantaram is the super-heavyweight champion of the literary world.

ISSUE NO. 28
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4 MIN READ
The cover of Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
By Janali

Cold blows the wind tonight, sweetheart, cold are the drops of rain, cold are the four walls of my cell, so cold I shall remain.

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
By Elijah

These “emotions” that carry me. It’s from these that you see me. Let not what you see, be all I can be. I’m so much more, this isn’t all.

ISSUE NO. 28
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1 MIN READ
By Gema

A girl trying to find her soul, an escape with rope and toe up a tree, a knot a swing.

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
By Minh

No mail, no bail, just jail. Hail and rain, rain and suffering, silently ingrained.

ISSUE NO. 28
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2 MIN READ
By Emily

Shout out to all you maintenance workers, from painting to plumbing, youse know you’re the reasons these places don’t collapse in on us!

ISSUE NO. 28
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1 MIN READ
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Legal Q&A

Do you have a general legal query that you want answered?
Is  there an area of law that you think people inside should know more about? Submit your question in the provided form, and we might publish an answer in the paper.

Submit Your Question

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Play

Sudoku

Fill the grid so every row, column and box contains the numbers 1-9 once.

Quiz

Test your general knowledge on our monthly quiz!

Meme of the Month

Meicho writes from a prison in QLD.

Crossword

Can you find all the words from the clues?

An image of the crossword from About Time's 28th issue.

Bad Jokes

Tai writes from a prison in TAS.

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