Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

Australia's National
Prison Newspaper

ISSUE NO. 18
JANUARY 2026

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
Police Installed Prison Listening Devices Without Proper Warrants
By Denham Sadler

“It is our assessment that Victoria Police did not comply with the Surveillance Devices Act when installing and maintaining integrated listening devices,” the report said.

ISSUE NO. 18
3 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
United Nations Visit Australian Prisons
By Stacey Stokes

In early December, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited Australia. Their purpose was to provide guidance on how international human rights standards apply to prisons and places of detention.

ISSUE NO. 18
2 MIN READ
Mathias Reding via Unsplash
Around the Country – December 2025
By About Time

Including a Victorian man suing for his right to have Vegemite in prison, a new framework for rehabilitation being launched by NT Corrections, a QLD Watchdog calling separation rooms in youth prisons ‘inhumane’ and more.

ISSUE NO. 18
8 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
Cleveland’s Death Was Preventable, Predictable and Predicted: Coroner
By Denham Sadler

The death of a 16-year-old First Nations teenager in a notorious youth unit of an adult prison in Western Australia was preventable and predictable, and the result of “serious longstanding deficiencies in the system, a Coroner has found.

ISSUE NO. 18
2 MIN READ
Impacts of Proposed New Freedom of Information Laws
By Daniel Vansetten

Obtaining information from federal agencies is about to become subject to stricter rules under the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025 (Cth).

ISSUE NO. 18
2 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
Palliative Care in Prison and the Push for Change
By Sophie Lawson

End-of-life care, also known as palliative care, is a healthcare process that aims to improve the quality of life and reduce the suffering of those who are terminally ill. Being incarcerated can make this stage of life even more complicated.

ISSUE NO. 18
3 MIN READ
Dominik Lange via Unsplash
BREAKING
‘Overcrowded, Degraded and Infested with Cockroaches’: Inspection Finds Broome Prison Still Not Fit-For-Purpose
By Denham Sadler

A remote WA prison holding mostly First Nations people is “unfit for purpose”, with people sleeping on the floors and cockroach infestations.

3 MIN READ
Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services
BREAKING
Court Finds Victorian Prisons Are Not Providing Adequate ‘Open Air’
By Denham Sadler

A number of Victorian prisons may have to be renovated or rebuilt after the Supreme Court found that no “open air” was being provided to inmates in multiple units.

BREAKING
3 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
BREAKING
QLD Moves to Restrict Voting Rights of People in Prison
By Denham Sadler

The Liberal Queensland government has announced plans to significantly minimise the rights to vote for people in prison.

BREAKING
2 MIN READ
Ike Curtis
Archive
ISSUE NO. 16
November 2025

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.

4 MIN READ
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.

4 MIN READ
BREAKING

About Time Launches in Western Australia

By Joseph Friedman

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.

2 MIN READ
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 Edith McLellan

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 Edith McLellan

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
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.

3 MIN READ
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