ISSUE NO. 22
MAY 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

Making Prison Visits Better

By Denham Sadler

With Mother’s Day this month, prison visits have never been more important. But for children with a parent in prison, or other loved ones, this process can be scary and intimidating, with a lot of rules and conditions.

ISSUE NO. 22
4 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy

Around the Country – April 2026

By About Time

Including the prison population growing in the ACT, a drug bust during a prison visit in Victoria, Hakea inmates suing state government in WA and more.

ISSUE NO. 22
5 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy

Australia’s Oldest Prison Vegetable Garden?

By Hayley McKee

The men at Fremantle Prison learnt how to grow fresh food by planting concentrated rows of sturdy cabbage, corn, carrots, spring onions and other edible plants that could withstand the harsh WA sun. At its peak, the garden supplied the prison kitchen with more than 10,000 kilograms of fruit and vegetables each year.

ISSUE NO. 22
3 MIN READ
Fremantle Prison Parade Ground Gardens, 1970, Courtesy Fremantle Prison

New Civil Law Service for Women in NSW Prisons

By About Time

The Women’s Advocacy Service is a partnership between Legal Aid NSW and the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), providing face-to-face appointments with both a lawyer and a social worker.

ISSUE NO. 22
2 MIN READ
Gabrielle Hender for Unsplash

We Need You: Maximum Security Unit Review Consultation

By Prisoners' Legal Service Queensland

The Inspector of Detention Services Queensland is undertaking a review of Maximum Security Units (MSUs) at Arthur Gorrie, Brisbane and Woodford Correctional Centres.

ISSUE NO. 22
3 MIN READ
katerha via Flickr

Who’s Watching the Prisons? Introducing ‘Inspector’s Corner’

Your monthly review of prison oversight

By About Time

There are a number of groups around the country that inspect prisons and provide feedback and recommendations to governments. These often involve visiting prisons and talking directly to people in custody.

ISSUE NO. 22
2 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
ONLINE NEWS

Victoria Pours $229m Into New Prison Beds

By Denham Sadler

The Victorian government will spend $229 million on new prison beds, five times what it has allocated to programs aiming to keep people out of them.

May 7, 2026
3 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
ONLINE NEWS

Voices From Prison Lockdowns

By Denham Sadler

Australia is in the midst of an epidemic of prison lockdowns. There is often little or no warning that these lockdowns are going to happen, leaving many people in virtual solitary confinement for hours or days.

May 7, 2026
4 MIN READ
Ike Curtis

Archive

ISSUE NO. 19
February 2026

QLD Moves to Restrict Voting Rights of People in Prison

By Denham Sadler

Currently, people in prison serving a sentence of fewer than three years in the state can vote in state and local government elections, as well as federal elections. This plan would restrict voting rights to only those serving a sentence of one year or less for state elections.

2 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 18
January 2026

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.

2 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 18
January 2026

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.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 18
January 2026

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.

8 MIN READ

Welcome to About Time

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

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