ISSUE NO. 22
MAY 2026

Letters

About Time dedicates many of its pages to publishing the letters of people in prison, as well as from their family and friends.

This is the centrepiece of the paper: a platform for people to share their experiences and learn from each other.

Latest

Why Mum Can’t Come Home

Stories I tell my children

By Hannah

I am currently remanded and I have two young children. My son is 8 and my daughter is 6. I have never told them that I’m in jail and instead explain to them that I’m at a facility that helps mummys and daddys get their minds and bodies strong again.

I’ve struggled to explain to them the lengthy time periods I’ve spent away from home, so recently I wrote them both a story that tried to explain why I’m not always around.

ISSUE NO. 22
2 MIN READ
Ike Curtis

‘I Try, I Really Do’

By Lynda

Mum I wish you knew how much I care, and how much I miss you when you’re not there.

ISSUE NO. 22
1 MIN READ

From a Mum With Her Son in Jail

By Lorraine

Living grief, as a mother, is waking each day with the knowledge that your child is still here, yet not truly free.

ISSUE NO. 22
2 MIN READ

Handling Family Issues From Prison

By Amos

Family issues trouble you the most while you are in the custody. Maybe you have a spouse or children. Or you may have close relationship with some members of the family. Some of us might have children in different states or overseas.

ISSUE NO. 22
2 MIN READ
By Dane

The following is in response to the article by Denham Sadler titled “Sweltering Behind Bars: Stifling Heat in Australian prisons”.

ISSUE NO. 22
2 MIN READ
By Luiing

If foreign prisoners have been sentenced under same law as Australians, then it’s extremely important that they have right to be treat equally in their imprisonment – on humanitarian grounds.

ISSUE NO. 22
2 MIN READ
By Prisoners at Albany Prison, WA

We are not sure who to write to or who we can talk to about theses matters. We are hoping someone reads our letter and can point us in the right direction to have our voices heard.

ISSUE NO. 22
1 MIN READ
By Muhamed

Prison teaches people to hold back. To keep to themselves. To give as little as possible. To protect what little energy or hope they have left. When everything feels limited – time, freedom, trust – it makes sense to think that giving more will leave you with less. But the bee lives by a different rule.

ISSUE NO. 22
2 MIN READ

Previous Editions

ISSUE NO. 8
March 2025

Sustainable Gardening

By George

I am the volunteer garden billet and some of my responsibilities are garden plot allocation and seed distribution.

2 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 8
March 2025

The Benefits of Gardening

By Alex

Dad would always say “there’s something about toiling in the garden, getting your hands in soil, it earths me out.”

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 8
March 2025

Pay Not Adding Up

By Kerrin

With even the prison staff in industries agreeing that our pay rates are ridiculous, how do things stay the same?

4 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 8
March 2025

About Time for a Pen Pal Program

By Rachel

Wow, I won the caption comp for December… I’ve never won anything and the whole jail is congratulating me.

2 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 8
March 2025

Learning My Lesson

By Wendy

I'll never come back to this place, but I’ll always respect the time that I’ve spent in here, and I understand now how and why people return to this place.

4 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 8
March 2025

Change Starts With You

By Paul

I now live in hope that I can find peace within myself, and there is a faint light at the end of a very long tunnel.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 8
March 2025

Running for Your Life

By George

I was 40 years old when I was incarcerated and I could barely run around the block.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 8
March 2025

Another Day in Paradise

By Noah

Prison reflects you like a mirror, you regret every mistake in your life. Everything. And if you want, it brings you back on the right way.

2 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 7
February 2025

An Impossible Choice

By Wendy

I pretty much have to pick and choose who I ring because it costs way too much money to ring each of my kids.

3 MIN READ

Welcome to About Time

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

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