News and Investigations
Campaign to Change Healthcare in Custody
By VACCHO
People in prisons continue to face preventable harm due to poor healthcare.

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People in prisons continue to face preventable harm due to poor healthcare.

A support service transporting First Nations people from prison to treatment facilities will shut down after it ran out of funding.

A program helping First Nations children being held in police watch houses in Queensland will stop operating after losing its state government funding.

There have been 29 deaths in custody in the first three months of this year.
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The family of proud Noongar man Jeffrey Winmar have travelled to Victoria to push for answers and justice at a coronial inquest into his death in police custody in late 2023.

Spit hoods have been found to be ineffective and potentially deadly. But they’re still used in prisons around the country.

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

Heather Calgaret was a proud Yamatji, Noongar, Wongi and Pitjantjatjara woman. She is remembered as a loving and smiling ‘mother hen’ who was a rock to her family and who loved and connected with her culture through her kids and art.

The handling of Aboriginal art and the ignorance around cultural significance by prisons in Victoria is appalling. This was my experience. It happened to me more than once, and no one was ever held accountable.

Tracy was one of many women released from prison straight into homelessness. Thanks to the Homeward Sisters program, Tracy was able to secure priority housing that meets her needs.

First Nations music legend Roger Knox has played everywhere from huge music festivals in the USA to the Sydney Opera House. But he says the shows that mean the most to him are the ones he played in prisons around Australia.

To celebrate NAIDOC week, we’re showcasing First Nations art submissions. We acknowledge the fierce First Nations people and Elders across the country advocating for justice.

In this interview with About Time, Hannah discusses what motivates her and her message to Mob in prison around the country.

This painting represents me as the goanna, going back home to freedom, reconnecting with my dad, mum, brother and sister and the rest of family, and going back to Country.

In Victoria, the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria began negotiations with the Victorian government last year on Treaty, and legislation allowing this agreement is now in Parliament.

Our land being invaded, our women and children being taken, Rabbit-Proof Fence no escaping.

The painting’s story is: we hunt the food that lives on this country as our ancestors did in the past and give thanks to the food and return what we can’t take, and the Spirit goes back to the land.

Justice should be upheld for all of those who seek legal support, particularly those from First Nations communities.

Including a piece about moving forward and another about seasons in Northern Australia.

Including a piece about kids dancing and going walkabout and Chippa's interpretation of Country.

A wide-ranging report commissioned by the federal government has called for “urgent and proactive” system-level reforms to improve the standard of health care provided to First Nations people in prison.

This information from Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service explains the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and some ways we as a community can work towards ending deaths in custody. Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of all those who have passed in custody.

3CR Community Radio’s Beyond the Bars project began in 2002 and continues to present live radio shows during NAIDOC Week each year.
