Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

ISSUE NO. 16
NOVEMBER 2025

News and Investigations

Each edition contains news articles and investigative pieces. These are topical stories that are usually about prisons and criminal justice.

We also summarise the latest criminal justice news around the country.

Latest
Letters From Home Lost to the Photocopier
By Denham Sadler

“I went from writing every day to basically not writing at all by the end, because it was so poorly photocopied or it was delayed,” Sarah told About Time.

ISSUE NO. 16
4 MIN READ
Ike Curtis
BREAKING
When Your Child is Charged
By Elizabeth

When your adult child does something that you don't agree with and you have no say in it – that's hard.

BREAKING
4 MIN READ
Benjamin Aitken
BREAKING
About Time Launches in Western Australia
By About Time

People in prison in Western Australia will soon have access to Australia’s national prison newspaper for the first time, with About Time launching in the state in October.

BREAKING
2 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
BREAKING
Reports of Unsafe Drinking Water in Prisons Across Australia
By Denham Sadler

While access to clean drinking water is a basic human right for people in prison, there have been a number of recent reports of dirty and metallic-tasting drinking water in prisons around the country, raising concerns over the health impact of consuming such water.

BREAKING
3 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
A Year of Being ‘Tough on Crime’
By Stacey Stokes

Is the NT walking into a more criminalised and less safe future?

ISSUE NO. 16
2 MIN READ
Rico via Unsplash
Around the Country – October 2025
By About Time

Including the criminal age of responsibility rising to 12 in VIC, prison whistleblower protections proposed for TAS, the bar being lowered to prove prison misconduct in NSW and more.

ISSUE NO. 16
8 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
Rising Remand Numbers Drive Increase to Victoria’s Prison Population
By About Time

The Sentencing Advisory Council report tracks the prison population in Victoria from 2004 to 2024, finding that it grew by 62 per cent in this time, far more than the less than 40 per cent increase in the general population of the state.

ISSUE NO. 16
1 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
The Importance of Radio in Prison
By Benjamin Aitken

A certain song at the right moment can anchor someone to memories, to hope or simply to themselves.

ISSUE NO. 16
3 MIN READ
Benjamin Aitken
Archive
ISSUE NO. 15
October 2025

What are Drug Courts?

By Stacey Stokes

Drug Courts are specialist courts that can provide an alternative to imprisonment for those who have offended due to drug dependency.

4 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 15
October 2025

Pentridge Prison’s Hidden Music History Unearthed

By Allison Harding

Did you know the bluestone walls of Pentridge Prison once reverberated with the sounds of reggae, punk, pop and country?

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 15
October 2025

Around the Country – September 2025

By About Time

Including overcrowding impacting service delivery in youth prisons in the ACT, prison officers going on strike in the NT, a second set of bail reforms passing in VIC and more.

6 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 15
October 2025

Parole Undermined

By Daniel Vansetten

Ideally, parole should enhance rehabilitation and reintegration. In the recent decade, however, rules restricting the granting of parole and a lack of housing options undermine these intended benefits.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 15
October 2025

Mental Health Services in Prison Successfully Billed to Medicare

By Damien Linnane

Earlier this year, in what may be an Australian first, over-the-phone mental health appointments from prison were arranged and bulk-billed under Medicare.

2 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 15
October 2025

Wrongful Convictions May Be Happening Undetected

By Denham Sadler

Kathleen Folbigg walked free from a prison in New South Wales in 2023 after serving 20 years in jail following a wrongful conviction.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 14
September 2025

The Dark Side of Gains

By Ronin Cruise

Australian men are bulking up at alarming rates. But there’s a toxic truth beneath it all: steroid use.

2 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 14
September 2025

Rethinking Risk Assessments in Prison Settings

Stacey Stokes interviews Emma Russell

When an individual is assigned a risk classification of low, medium, or high risk by corrections, they have been given this classification through a risk assessment.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 14
September 2025

Around the Country – August 2025

By About Time

Including WA Federal Government raising concerns with criminal justice reforms, SA prison placement guidelines reviewed, child incarceration rates increasing in NSW and more.

6 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 14
September 2025

Heather Calgaret Inquest: Her Life Was Precious and Her Passing Was Preventable

This is a shortened version of a media release from Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), originally published on the day of the inquest findings

Heather Calgaret was a proud Yamatji, Noongar, Wongi and Pitjantjatjara woman.

4 MIN READ
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