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Letters

Remand is Stressful

By

S.

S. writes from a prison in NSW.

Johann Siemens via Unsplash

Dear Editor of About Time,

I’m in month 20 with my trial another 12 months away. Remand is a particularly stressful period mainly due to a number of factors:

  1. Uncertainty of the future
  2. Risk of random bad placement
  3. Risks of violent offenders

Therefore, I find the lack of access to nature, particularly trees and open grass lands is mentally and physically detrimental especially for first-timers and older (>60) folk like myself.

The majority of prison staff try their best and you feel some actually care. Given ‘remand’ is the entry point, how can the NSW remand system be changed to mitigate the anxiety and concerns associated with the points above?

Thank you.

Dear Editor of About Time,

I’m in month 20 with my trial another 12 months away. Remand is a particularly stressful period mainly due to a number of factors:

  1. Uncertainty of the future
  2. Risk of random bad placement
  3. Risks of violent offenders

Therefore, I find the lack of access to nature, particularly trees and open grass lands is mentally and physically detrimental especially for first-timers and older (>60) folk like myself.

The majority of prison staff try their best and you feel some actually care. Given ‘remand’ is the entry point, how can the NSW remand system be changed to mitigate the anxiety and concerns associated with the points above?

Thank you.

This
letter
was originally printed in the
July 2026
edition of About Time.
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