ISSUE NO. 21
April 2026
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Letters

Jail is Home to Me Now

By
Kane

Kane writes from a prison in QLD.

To About Time,

My name’s Kane. I like your paper. I look forward to it when it comes. They deliver it under my door. It’s interesting to read what others have to say and their experiences. I like the paintings some of the other prisoners do. They have a gift. It’s sad how some people waste a talent like that by doing silly shit and wasting their life behind bars. Though I know what it’s like to feel you don’t always have a choice and you gotta do what you gotta do. Some blame others and try to give reasons why they’re stuck here. Like, no mate, you’re here because you alone put you here. So it’s my 8th time in. I don’t receive mail. No one comes to visit me. I have nobody. I used to think I had friends. I’ve learnt not to get close to people. I have people I hang out with.

You can meet 100 people in here. Out of the 100 you’d be lucky if one of them are as they say on the outside. There’s a lot of good people too in here – good-hearted people.

In prison, I have a TV, a bed, shower, 3 meals a day and buy-up every week. The jail taxes me half my pay, so now I get $8.50 a week – got 20 more pays to go.

It spun me out my first time in jail. You get paid to be in jail. And we get lollies, chocolate, coffee etc. I’m homeless on the outside. To me, now, it’s home. I’ve had more good times in jail than I had on the outside. When they gave me bail over 6 months ago I cried. I didn’t want to leave. I’m not in a hurry to get out back to the streets, sleeping in parks again. It’s funny, some people claim they have no one, yet they do. I haven’t got anyone I can trust. Who can you trust when you can’t trust nobody? You trust yourself.

To About Time,

My name’s Kane. I like your paper. I look forward to it when it comes. They deliver it under my door. It’s interesting to read what others have to say and their experiences. I like the paintings some of the other prisoners do. They have a gift. It’s sad how some people waste a talent like that by doing silly shit and wasting their life behind bars. Though I know what it’s like to feel you don’t always have a choice and you gotta do what you gotta do. Some blame others and try to give reasons why they’re stuck here. Like, no mate, you’re here because you alone put you here. So it’s my 8th time in. I don’t receive mail. No one comes to visit me. I have nobody. I used to think I had friends. I’ve learnt not to get close to people. I have people I hang out with.

You can meet 100 people in here. Out of the 100 you’d be lucky if one of them are as they say on the outside. There’s a lot of good people too in here – good-hearted people.

In prison, I have a TV, a bed, shower, 3 meals a day and buy-up every week. The jail taxes me half my pay, so now I get $8.50 a week – got 20 more pays to go.

It spun me out my first time in jail. You get paid to be in jail. And we get lollies, chocolate, coffee etc. I’m homeless on the outside. To me, now, it’s home. I’ve had more good times in jail than I had on the outside. When they gave me bail over 6 months ago I cried. I didn’t want to leave. I’m not in a hurry to get out back to the streets, sleeping in parks again. It’s funny, some people claim they have no one, yet they do. I haven’t got anyone I can trust. Who can you trust when you can’t trust nobody? You trust yourself.

Staying Strong

By Mel

My name is Mel. In July, my partner overdosed while I was locked up in Tasmania. The staff there were amazing.

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This letter isn’t about myself or my time in prison, but I have spent a fair few years here, and this why I wanted to propose potentially a system where once a week or once a month it is an option, for those who want to or are able to, to donate to a charity from money from our inmate accounts.

Letters

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‘I Continue to Laugh in the Face of Adversity’: Newtown’s ‘Dreamer’ Muralist on PTSD and Prison

By Andrew

'Nuff Respect, Kudos, and Vast Appreciation on your Magnificent, Pertinent and Poignant Periodical that just keeps getting better. WORD UP!!!

Letters

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Autism and Mental Illness: Prison Isn’t the Right Place

By Garry

I would just like to mention a few things I’ve noticed around prison regarding inmates with both autistic and mental illness traits. Who says these inmates are right to go to prison and not a hospital?

Letters

ISSUE NO. 21

1 MIN READ

Welcome to About Time

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

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