You Don’t Stop Being a Dad: Father’s Day on the Inside
Father’s Day can bring pride, guilt, sadness, hope, or all of them at once, and being in jail doesn’t stop that.
ISSUE NO. 26
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2 MIN READ
Ike Curtis
FROM TRAUMA TO HEALING
‘I owe it to my son to
stick it out’
stick it out’
Experiences
ASK STACEY
Pension after prison and interstate parole
Reintegration
COURTROOM TERMS
A plain English guide for legal terminology
Legal Corner
LEARN ORIGAMI!
Make a swan or a penguin with this page
Learn
The Program Helping Dads Read Bedtime Stories From Behind Bars
The Storytime program, run in prisons in NSW, Queensland and WA, records fathers reading stories and sends them to their kids on the outside.
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3 MIN READ
‘Everyday Feels Like a Battle’: Serving Time Away From Home
By Deanno
I wanted to talk a bit more about my day-to-day experience in regards to where I’m at mentally due to my situation.
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1 MIN READ
‘She Makes Me Want to Be a Better Man’
By Dougie
I want to change my ways and always be there for her, like she has done for me.
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1 MIN READ
freestocks via Unsplash
By Biannca
Just thought I would send in two photos of what I have been up to during my time in prison.
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1 MIN READ
By Chris
Finding information relating to Commonwealth Parole or people able to provide correct advice has proven challenging since I was sentenced.
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2 MIN READ
By Aidan
I am writing as I saw my partner’s article and it inspired me. This is probably my millionth time in prison, and time stands still.
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1 MIN READ
By Adrian
How do we escape the trap of feeling worse rather than better?
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3 MIN READ
By Luke
We want top quality proteins, supplements and items for our health. But we can’t buy what we want, need and like.
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1 MIN READ
By Anthony
For me writing is a powerful tool that helps with my mental health.
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1 MIN READ
By Anthony
It’s a huge safety issue. The steps are metal with no grip tape on the step, so if you slip you could injure yourself.
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By Brady
I wanted to write about the lockdowns we have been subjected to and how it’s not getting any better.
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1 MIN READ
New Book Explores Experiences of Fathers in Australian Prisons
It explores masculinity, imprisonment and the impact of incarceration on families, through the interviews with fathers in prison.
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1 MIN READ
Fatherhood in Prisons: Lessons From Around the World
There are groundbreaking programs around the world aiming to help fathers behind bars.
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Paramedics Not Police to Attend Some Mental Health Crises in NSW
By Denham Sadler
The NSW government has detailed a new statewide mental health emergency response model centred on paramedics responding to people who are in crisis in some cases, instead of police.
ISSUE NO. 26
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2 MIN READ
Highway Patrol Images via Flickr
Around the Country – August 2026
By About Time
Including prison policy changes being tracked online in the ACT, concerns in the NT over a lack of a forensic mental health unit, new gym equipment coming to Western Plains in VIC and more.
ISSUE NO. 26
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5 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
Inspector's Corner
Including a man being unlawfully kept in prison for months after his release date in SA, the findings from the Capricornia Inspection in QLD, upcoming inspections in WA and more.
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5 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
To the Gods of Speed: An Ode to Motorcycling
It was mid-afternoon in the Port Campbell area, with a southerly wind blowing, and Henry and I were just about to leave the Boggy Creek Café.
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3 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
‘I Owe It To My Son to Stick it Out’: My Path From Trauma to Healing
My name is David. I am a proud Yorta Yorta man currently locked up in Victoria.
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3 MIN READ
Boom Gate Gallery – 'Gulbri (Emu Chicks)' by Richard, $650, #6210, 60cm x 75cm, acrylic on canvas
How to Manage Stress in Prison
Stress is an unavoidable part of life, but within a prison environment it is often increased by uncertainty, loss of freedom, separation from loved ones, conflict, boredom, and concerns about the future.
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3 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
Yoga For Good Digestion!
Determined to make positive changes in life? It can start with digestion!
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2 MIN READ
Ask Stacey! Pension After Prison and Interstate Parole
Welcome to another exciting instalment of Ask Stacey! And I got one of my favourite questions!
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3 MIN READ
The Freedom Nobody Prepared Me For
By Sam G
Not once did somebody ask me what I needed, what mattered to me, or what healing looked like from my perspective.
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3 MIN READ
Boom Gate Gallery – 'Going Home Anxieties' by Tony, $900, #5494, 60cm x 75cm, acrylic on canvas
Louise’s Story: ‘Your Sentence Will End. What Matters Is What You Do Next’
By Louise
Owning my story became one of the most liberating decisions I’ve ever made.
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2 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
A ‘Grumpy Old Man’s’ Guide to the Language of Young People
Call me a grumpy old Baby Boomer, but I can’t understand young people. Or more specifically, young Queensland males. Literally.
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2 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
A Plain English Guide to the Courtroom
The law, like other professions, has its own language. It helps keep all the lawyers huddled around some special stuff and keep the rest of us outside.
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4 MIN READ
Tingey Injury Law Firm via Unplash
ONLINE NEWS
‘Care is the Antidote’: Push For a Dedicated Prison Legal Service
A standalone legal service is needed to address the “significant unmet needs” of people in prison, particularly women, trans and gender diverse people, according to a new report.
ONLINE NEWS
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3 MIN READ
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Willy Pleasance
ONLINE NEWS
Victoria Passes Prison Open Air Restrictions Despite Human Rights Concerns
Prison management can now limit incarcerated people’s access to time in the open air for a number of reasons, such as the management, good order or security of the prison.
ONLINE NEWS
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2 MIN READ
Ike Curtis
ONLINE NEWS
High Court to Decide If Woman in Prison Can Freeze Her Eggs
Australia’s highest court will decide whether a woman in prison in Queensland should be allowed to freeze her eggs while she is incarcerated.
ONLINE NEWS
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3 MIN READ
ONLINE NEWS
Man Left ‘Languishing’ in Prison For Two Years Without Anti-Psychotic Meds
A man in Victoria was left “languishing” on remand in prison with active psychosis for two years before he received any medication, a court has heard.
ONLINE NEWS
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3 MIN READ
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Willy Pleasance
ONLINE NEWS
Aircon Finally Arrived at Australia’s Hottest Prison. It Quickly Became Safer and Healthier
After decades of campaigning by advocates and the Western Australian custodial inspector, air-conditioning was finally installed at Roebourne Regional Prison mid-last year.
ONLINE NEWS
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2 MIN READ
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Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services
ONLINE NEWS
Man Kept in Prison For Months After Release Date Due to ‘Systems Error’
A man was unlawfully kept in a South Australian prison for months after his release date due to a “systems error”, and was not told about this for five years, an Ombudsman investigation has found.
ONLINE NEWS
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2 MIN READ
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Mob
Just Keep Turning Up
You’ve probably heard of AFL legends Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin. But what you might not know, is that they also started their own charity called the GO Foundation.
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Artwork From Boom Gate Gallery
Most of the art featured at Boom Gate Gallery is made at Long Bay Gaol, with some coming from other prisons in NSW.
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‘Fire Burning’ by Carl, $350, #5714, 60cm x 75cm, acrylic on canvas
Learn Origami!
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.
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By Michael Clonaris
There Is Nothing in the Universe That Hurts the Way You Do
I wrote this song when I started my sentence in June 2026.
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Guillermo Ferla via Unsplash
Left Hand and Right
Amber draws from a prison in QLD.
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Amber draws from a prison in QLD.
Heart On My Sleeve
I’m a rapper and I thought I’d share one of the songs I’ve written.
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Liana S via Unsplash
Aztec Warrior II
Somebody’s Daughter Theatre offers women within the prison system in Victoria, the opportunity to participate in weekly art workshops.
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Aztec Warrior II, Leonor, Graphite, Charcoal on Paper, 2025
By Martin
I felt compelled to contribute so here follows a few submissions for your consideration.
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1 MIN READ
By Stevie
Dear Dad – entering into a trance, muttering words of vines, love stories you wrote, were magnificent and great.
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By Murdoch
Oblivion comes at a price I will not pay, I look to you every time as I begin words I pray. Rest my weary soul upon this red I lay, as this body of mine grows fatigued by words I tire.
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2 MIN READ
By Glen
Do you see what I see? I can’t see what you see. If you could see what I see, and I could see what you see. What would we see.
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2 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
Word Search
Find the below words in the above puzzle. Words are hidden horizontally, vertically and diagonally.
Trivia Quiz Winter Warmer #2
Test your general knowledge on our monthly quiz!
Sudoku
Fill the grid so every row, column and box contains the numbers 1-9 once.
Spot the Differences
Can you find the six differences in this photograph of a rugby match in the Netherlands in 1992?
Nine Letter Word
How many words can you make using these nine letters? You have to use the middle letter. See if you can find the nine letter word!
Meme of the Month
Meicho writes from a prison in QLD.
Crossword
Can you find all the words from the clues?
Bad Jokes
Erin writes from a prison in QLD.
Ethan Cassidy