The role of private prison guards in the Northern Territory is set to be expanded as the number of people incarcerated continues to grow.
The Northern Territory government earlier this year signed a six-month contract with G4S for the use of private prison guards to manage the transfer of people from prison to the courts.
The duties of these private prison guards will now be expanded, with reports there are plans to “strengthen [their] support” for external escorts, hospital bedsits and watch house services.
More than 400 children in the Northern Territory were held in police watch houses from late August to early March, and 388 of these children were First Nations.
This represents about 1.5 percent of all children aged between 10 and 17 in the Northern Territory.
The federal government has raised concerns with the Northern Territory’s youth incarceration rates and the re-introduction of the use of spit hoods in youth prisons.
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy recently met with Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro.
In this meeting, McCarthy said she “made very clear the concerns I have in regards to First Nations youths in watch houses and the reintroduction of spit hoods”.
The use of spit hoods in youth prisons was banned eight years ago, but the Northern Territory government recently moved to reinstate their use.
A vigil was held last month outside the Alice Springs watch house to highlight the “cruel and degrading conditions” in centres like this.
The vigil was organised by the Justice Not Jails organisation, which said the current situation in the Northern Territory is a “humanitarian crisis of ongoing colonial violence”.
Tasmania is falling behind in many of its efforts to Close the Gap, including when it comes to the number of First Nations children in the child protection system and in youth prisons.
The Productivity Commission recently released its report into how the states and territories are meeting their Closing the Gap goals.
It revealed that across the country, just four of the 19 targets are on track to be met.
In Tasmania, the rate of First Nations children in child protection and youth detention remains far higher than non-First Nations children in the state.
Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service CEO Jake Smith said this shows that far more needs to be done to improve conditions in the state for First Nations people.
“Tasmania does not need tougher laws or increased police powers or presence – this is at odds with what the government has previously promised,” Smith said.
“Everything else is reactionary and will not assist in achieving results.”
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has kept power after a no-confidence motion against his Liberal government was voted down.
It came after neither major party was able to secure a majority at the snap election held in July.
The election saw the Liberals secure 14 seats, Labor 10 and the Greens five, along with five independents and an MP from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers.
This means that neither party was able to form a majority government, and debate has raged since over whether the Liberals or Labor will form a minority government.
Labor in mid-August moved a no-confidence vote against the Liberal government, but did not get the support needed for it to pass.
This means the Liberals will continue to govern in Tasmania, but will need support from crossbenchers to pass legislation.
Nearly all prisons in the state are overcrowded or at capacity and the wider system is “in crisis”, the Western Australian prison inspector has found.
The Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (OICS) released its report on a follow-up inspection of Hakea Prison in Western Australia, last month.
It found that those incarcerated at Hakea are being held in conditions that are “entirely unacceptable” and that “do not meet the basic level of decent treatment required under national and international human rights and standards”.
Severe overcrowding at the prison is leading to up to 80 men sleeping on mattresses on cell floors near toilets.
This is “symptomatic of a prison system in crisis”, the inspector said, with seven prisons in WA over their designated population capacity, and eight at more than 95 percent capacity.
“The prison system is full and there is no spare capacity for more prisoners,” the OICS report said.
The inspector found that there are significant barriers for people in Hakea to maintain contact with the outside world because of limited access to phone calls and regular cancellations of social visits.
The OICS recommended a formal inquiry be launched into the operations of Hakea Prison to identify solutions that will restore the rights of people in the prison, implement a normal daily routine and create a safe working environment for staff.
There is a “building sense of optimism” at Western Australia’s largest prison following a number of troubled years, but there are ongoing concerns around lockdowns and poor food and water quality.
The OICS released its report last month based on inspections of Acacia Prison last year.
The prison is the largest in Western Australia and is privately operated by Serco.
The OICS said the prison now features a well-functioning health centre with improved psychological health services and good access to dental care.
But it also heard of widespread concerns around regular lockdowns at the prison, poor food and worsening living conditions.
“Our inspection found several areas needing improvement, including deteriorating living conditions, limited employment opportunities, reduced access to education and programs, and concerns about food and water quality,” OICS Commissioner Eamon Ryan said.
The poor quality of water at the prison, including sediment in the drinking water and a metallic taste, was frequently raised by people in the prison.
The OICS said that Serco was told of this issue and said it had addressed it, but a recent visit to the prison heard continued complaints about it.
The inspector was told that a funding application for a water filter at the prison was rejected by the Western Australian government.
The rules deciding what prison people are placed in have been reviewed and will be changed by the state government.
The South Australian government announced a review into the guidelines around which prison people are placed in to address “gaps” in the current system and ensure that certain inmates are excluded from low-security facilities.
This review presented a number of changes to the current guidelines, which the state government said it has accepted and will be put in place.
These changes include giving a stronger victim perspective in the management of serious offenders and what prison they are placed in, the South Australian government said.
The changes will “ensure the department has a stronger victim focus relating to the case management of serious offenders”, and a “higher degree of oversight prior to any transfer decision made”.
The role of private prison guards in the Northern Territory is set to be expanded as the number of people incarcerated continues to grow.
The Northern Territory government earlier this year signed a six-month contract with G4S for the use of private prison guards to manage the transfer of people from prison to the courts.
The duties of these private prison guards will now be expanded, with reports there are plans to “strengthen [their] support” for external escorts, hospital bedsits and watch house services.
More than 400 children in the Northern Territory were held in police watch houses from late August to early March, and 388 of these children were First Nations.
This represents about 1.5 percent of all children aged between 10 and 17 in the Northern Territory.
The federal government has raised concerns with the Northern Territory’s youth incarceration rates and the re-introduction of the use of spit hoods in youth prisons.
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy recently met with Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro.
In this meeting, McCarthy said she “made very clear the concerns I have in regards to First Nations youths in watch houses and the reintroduction of spit hoods”.
The use of spit hoods in youth prisons was banned eight years ago, but the Northern Territory government recently moved to reinstate their use.
A vigil was held last month outside the Alice Springs watch house to highlight the “cruel and degrading conditions” in centres like this.
The vigil was organised by the Justice Not Jails organisation, which said the current situation in the Northern Territory is a “humanitarian crisis of ongoing colonial violence”.
Tasmania is falling behind in many of its efforts to Close the Gap, including when it comes to the number of First Nations children in the child protection system and in youth prisons.
The Productivity Commission recently released its report into how the states and territories are meeting their Closing the Gap goals.
It revealed that across the country, just four of the 19 targets are on track to be met.
In Tasmania, the rate of First Nations children in child protection and youth detention remains far higher than non-First Nations children in the state.
Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service CEO Jake Smith said this shows that far more needs to be done to improve conditions in the state for First Nations people.
“Tasmania does not need tougher laws or increased police powers or presence – this is at odds with what the government has previously promised,” Smith said.
“Everything else is reactionary and will not assist in achieving results.”
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has kept power after a no-confidence motion against his Liberal government was voted down.
It came after neither major party was able to secure a majority at the snap election held in July.
The election saw the Liberals secure 14 seats, Labor 10 and the Greens five, along with five independents and an MP from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers.
This means that neither party was able to form a majority government, and debate has raged since over whether the Liberals or Labor will form a minority government.
Labor in mid-August moved a no-confidence vote against the Liberal government, but did not get the support needed for it to pass.
This means the Liberals will continue to govern in Tasmania, but will need support from crossbenchers to pass legislation.
Nearly all prisons in the state are overcrowded or at capacity and the wider system is “in crisis”, the Western Australian prison inspector has found.
The Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services (OICS) released its report on a follow-up inspection of Hakea Prison in Western Australia, last month.
It found that those incarcerated at Hakea are being held in conditions that are “entirely unacceptable” and that “do not meet the basic level of decent treatment required under national and international human rights and standards”.
Severe overcrowding at the prison is leading to up to 80 men sleeping on mattresses on cell floors near toilets.
This is “symptomatic of a prison system in crisis”, the inspector said, with seven prisons in WA over their designated population capacity, and eight at more than 95 percent capacity.
“The prison system is full and there is no spare capacity for more prisoners,” the OICS report said.
The inspector found that there are significant barriers for people in Hakea to maintain contact with the outside world because of limited access to phone calls and regular cancellations of social visits.
The OICS recommended a formal inquiry be launched into the operations of Hakea Prison to identify solutions that will restore the rights of people in the prison, implement a normal daily routine and create a safe working environment for staff.
There is a “building sense of optimism” at Western Australia’s largest prison following a number of troubled years, but there are ongoing concerns around lockdowns and poor food and water quality.
The OICS released its report last month based on inspections of Acacia Prison last year.
The prison is the largest in Western Australia and is privately operated by Serco.
The OICS said the prison now features a well-functioning health centre with improved psychological health services and good access to dental care.
But it also heard of widespread concerns around regular lockdowns at the prison, poor food and worsening living conditions.
“Our inspection found several areas needing improvement, including deteriorating living conditions, limited employment opportunities, reduced access to education and programs, and concerns about food and water quality,” OICS Commissioner Eamon Ryan said.
The poor quality of water at the prison, including sediment in the drinking water and a metallic taste, was frequently raised by people in the prison.
The OICS said that Serco was told of this issue and said it had addressed it, but a recent visit to the prison heard continued complaints about it.
The inspector was told that a funding application for a water filter at the prison was rejected by the Western Australian government.
The rules deciding what prison people are placed in have been reviewed and will be changed by the state government.
The South Australian government announced a review into the guidelines around which prison people are placed in to address “gaps” in the current system and ensure that certain inmates are excluded from low-security facilities.
This review presented a number of changes to the current guidelines, which the state government said it has accepted and will be put in place.
These changes include giving a stronger victim perspective in the management of serious offenders and what prison they are placed in, the South Australian government said.
The changes will “ensure the department has a stronger victim focus relating to the case management of serious offenders”, and a “higher degree of oversight prior to any transfer decision made”.
A new Yarning Circle for First Nations cultural reflection and connection has opened at the Long Bay Correctional Complex.
Yarning Circles have been used by First Nations people for thousands of years to share knowledge, strengthen relationships and increase understanding in a respectful and inclusive space.
The Yarning Circle, which will also be open to prison staff and visitors, will allow people to engage with First Nations ways of knowing, being and doing.
The space at the Long Bay prison features artwork by Josh, a Wiradjuri inmate, showing stingrays, whales and jellyfish.
An opening ceremony was held at the Yarning Circle last month.
The number of children held in youth prisons in New South Wales has increased by 34 percent in the last two years.
Data released last month also revealed that First Nations children now make up 60 percent of all children in detention, and a third of all adults in custody in the state.
Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT CEO Karly Warner said the new figures are a “wake-up call”.
“Despite committing to Closing the Gap in the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal people, the NSW government continues to enact laws and policies that drive up mass incarceration,” Warner said.
Operational commissioning of Queensland’s largest prison commenced on 25 July 2025, with people expected to be incarcerated at the site from later this year.
Security testing has been taking place at the Lockyer Valley Correctional Centre over the last two months, and the first people were expected to be incarcerated at the facility this month.
The prison will hold up to 1536 people, making it the largest correctional centre in Queensland.
There are now 800 staff working at the prison, which is on 22 hectares of land and features 40 buildings.
It is the first new prison to be opened in Queensland in more than 10 years.
According to Corrective Services Commissioner Paul Stewart, the Lockyer Valley prison will have a “significant” focus on rehabilitation, and that this will be at the “heart of
this centre”.
Construction of the facility cost nearly $1 billion.
The Western Plains Correctional Centre has officially opened in Victoria, with up to 900 people to be incarcerated at the facility by the end of the year.
The $1 billion new prison has sat empty for more than two years since construction was complete.
Most of the people to be held at the prison will be moved from the Port Phillip Prison, which will be shut down by the end of the year.
An opening ceremony was held at the prison in July, and there are now 400 custodial officers working on site.
The prison has eight accommodation units, and a 44-bed close supervision and support unit.
There have been 20 people incarcerated at the prison since April after they were moved following a suspected carbon monoxide leak at Barwon Prison.
Negotiations on Australia’s first state-wide treaty between the Victorian government and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria are nearly finished.
The treaty negotiations are now “well advanced”, the Victorian Labor government has said, with a bill to be introduced to the state Parliament once it is finalised.
The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria was established in 2018.
It comes after the Yoorrook Justice Commission released its final truth-telling report in July.
A review into the over-representation of First Nations people in the ACT’s criminal justice system has called for an independent review into recent deaths in custody in the territory’s only prison.
The Jumbunna Institute recently handed its report to the territory government, including nearly 100 recommendations.
It recommended an independent inquiry into the deaths of seven men at the Alexander Maconochie Centre from February 2023 to February 2025, and for the ACT government and coroner to speed up coronial investigations into deaths in custody.
There should be more structured days at the prison with “purposeful activities” meeting the cultural needs of First Nations inmates, the review found.
It also called for urgent reviews into racism in ACT Policing and at the prison.
It found that racism is widespread in some areas of the ACT government, and that First Nations people in the territory “continue to be targeted and continue to experience excessive use of force” by police.
A new Yarning Circle for First Nations cultural reflection and connection has opened at the Long Bay Correctional Complex.
Yarning Circles have been used by First Nations people for thousands of years to share knowledge, strengthen relationships and increase understanding in a respectful and inclusive space.
The Yarning Circle, which will also be open to prison staff and visitors, will allow people to engage with First Nations ways of knowing, being and doing.
The space at the Long Bay prison features artwork by Josh, a Wiradjuri inmate, showing stingrays, whales and jellyfish.
An opening ceremony was held at the Yarning Circle last month.
The number of children held in youth prisons in New South Wales has increased by 34 percent in the last two years.
Data released last month also revealed that First Nations children now make up 60 percent of all children in detention, and a third of all adults in custody in the state.
Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT CEO Karly Warner said the new figures are a “wake-up call”.
“Despite committing to Closing the Gap in the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal people, the NSW government continues to enact laws and policies that drive up mass incarceration,” Warner said.
Operational commissioning of Queensland’s largest prison commenced on 25 July 2025, with people expected to be incarcerated at the site from later this year.
Security testing has been taking place at the Lockyer Valley Correctional Centre over the last two months, and the first people were expected to be incarcerated at the facility this month.
The prison will hold up to 1536 people, making it the largest correctional centre in Queensland.
There are now 800 staff working at the prison, which is on 22 hectares of land and features 40 buildings.
It is the first new prison to be opened in Queensland in more than 10 years.
According to Corrective Services Commissioner Paul Stewart, the Lockyer Valley prison will have a “significant” focus on rehabilitation, and that this will be at the “heart of
this centre”.
Construction of the facility cost nearly $1 billion.
The Western Plains Correctional Centre has officially opened in Victoria, with up to 900 people to be incarcerated at the facility by the end of the year.
The $1 billion new prison has sat empty for more than two years since construction was complete.
Most of the people to be held at the prison will be moved from the Port Phillip Prison, which will be shut down by the end of the year.
An opening ceremony was held at the prison in July, and there are now 400 custodial officers working on site.
The prison has eight accommodation units, and a 44-bed close supervision and support unit.
There have been 20 people incarcerated at the prison since April after they were moved following a suspected carbon monoxide leak at Barwon Prison.
Negotiations on Australia’s first state-wide treaty between the Victorian government and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria are nearly finished.
The treaty negotiations are now “well advanced”, the Victorian Labor government has said, with a bill to be introduced to the state Parliament once it is finalised.
The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria was established in 2018.
It comes after the Yoorrook Justice Commission released its final truth-telling report in July.
A review into the over-representation of First Nations people in the ACT’s criminal justice system has called for an independent review into recent deaths in custody in the territory’s only prison.
The Jumbunna Institute recently handed its report to the territory government, including nearly 100 recommendations.
It recommended an independent inquiry into the deaths of seven men at the Alexander Maconochie Centre from February 2023 to February 2025, and for the ACT government and coroner to speed up coronial investigations into deaths in custody.
There should be more structured days at the prison with “purposeful activities” meeting the cultural needs of First Nations inmates, the review found.
It also called for urgent reviews into racism in ACT Policing and at the prison.
It found that racism is widespread in some areas of the ACT government, and that First Nations people in the territory “continue to be targeted and continue to experience excessive use of force” by police.
Including tough bail laws being introduced in Victoria, the South Australian Government ruling out raising the age of criminal responsibility, a new parole board president appointed in Queensland and more.
The Australian Federal election is coming up. This is about voting for the Prime Minister and other federal politicians. It will be held on 3 May 2025.
“We can’t get information about how a party or candidate’s policies must impact prisoners,” Kelly told About Time. “Prison officers also will not provide us with any information as it is seen as political.”
Prison work differs across the country.
Help keep the momentum going. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.
Help us get About Time off the ground. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.
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