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There are renewed hopes that phone calls in Australian prisons will soon be more affordable or completely free, with campaigns advocating for the change ramping up around the country.
The “exorbitant” cost of making a call from a prison in Australia has been criticised by human and civil rights groups, legal organisations, parliamentary inquiries and those with direct experience of the situation.
I write to extend feedback – re: your monthly paper. I must say that it was with more than the usual measuring spoon of interest that most here @ MRC welcomed its arrival. Upon finding it in our respective mailboxes, it caused a stir. A tad like the discovery of gold in Ballarat: a freakin buzz!
12 months into being remanded in custody. I’m still yet to be sentenced – hence I can’t see the end at all. I’m trying hard to make something of my time here, writing A LOT, doing heaps of artwork, studying at uni, doing literally ALL the therapy available to me here and any other short courses I can get into. I had a clean record before this but could get anywhere from 2-9 years for my major charge.
I’m an inmate who spent the last 20 months in MRRC. I was 24 when I was under arrest. During this time, I lost everything I valued before. I lost my reputation by news, which made lots of friends leave this ‘horrible’ me. I borrowed and spent all my money on a lawyer, I also was expelled from school in my senior year. I went to the worst situation of my life.
Good day, I was glad to come across one of your publications which caught my attention, and I decided to write and inform you that I am an artist who expresses his emotions through Art. The maximum security prison facilities across Victoria, I believe, do not see the need to rehabilitate inmates through Art therapy/programmes, for most prison staff’s mentality is that of the prisoners, totally institutionalised. Most of them do not see themselves as workers of change, but as screws who would rather obstruct inmates from reaching their full potential in life. They are obstructionists and not mentors for rehabilitation.
Around a month ago, our prison was supplied with several copies of your newspaper in our rec room and they were an instant hit! I personally enjoyed reading about what different states’ rules were on prison-related things, such as: how people can put money into inmate’s accounts, how much money different prisons allow inmates to have, and visit processes. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading about what different states offered regarding things such as housing for the homeless. We’re really hoping to continue getting access to the papers!
Ron Brierley’s case is the tip of a very large iceberg when it comes to elderly people and healthcare in prison. In December 2019, then 82-year-old Brierley was detained at Sydney International Airport following an anonymous tip-off. On 1 April 2021, Brierley pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing child abuse material. On 14 October 2021, Brierley was sentenced to 14 months in jail, with a seven-month non-parole period.
The latest criminal news from around the country, including pressure on WA government to act on ‘systemic failures’ in youth detention following inquest into death in custody of Cleveland Dodd, Victoria backflipping on raising the age of criminal responsibility and all prisons in NSW now having access to ‘virtual’ medical care.
Last Sunday night I watched a movie called Patch Adams. It’s a comedy about a man called Patch Adams, played by Robin Williams, and his journey through medical school and becoming a doctor. He decides to become a doctor after his own experience in a mental hospital. He was depressed and experiencing suicidal thoughts, but found recovery through humour and connections with other patients, rather than through traditional medical interventions. He quickly left the hospital to pursue his dreams of becoming a doctor and develop his different humour-based approach to medicine.
When Adams was a student, his teachers and fellow students thought he was just a clown and that jokes could not change a patient’s situation. But by the end of the movie, he made medical breakthroughs with his patients, especially those who were dying. Adams used happiness to treat their grief, and became a great doctor who excelled in treating physical illness through caring about their inner world.
As a young person, I admired my grandfather so much that I feared him. He is the kind of man that commands respect; a military man who doesn’t put up with any funny business. With Grandad, you need to try your damned hardest, always. And after you do that, you should have another go. Squeeze the last drop out of that lemon. Wedge it into your mouth and suck it. Grate every last bit off the rind.
Paolo Lobosco is of Aboriginal and Italian descent, with strong ties to the Ngarrindjeri people of the Point McLeay Mission, which they call Raukkan. Paolo is a valuable member of his community, particularly through his involvement with cue sports, such as 8-ball, the discipline of pool played with sixteen billiard balls. While he has been imprisoned on three separate occasions, 8-ball has given Paolo the focus and sense of community to move forward on the right path.
The 2024 Paris Olympics started with a splash (literally). The Opening Ceremony featured 90 boats, filled with country teams waving flags, all floating down a rainy river Seine, as the crowd of 300,000 cheered from the riverbanks.
From the beginning, the atmosphere in Paris was a contrast to the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, which were held under strict Covid pandemic restrictions and saw athletes competing in empty stadiums and without their family, friends, or support teams along for the ride. This year, record-breaking numbers of fans lined the streets and stadiums of Paris to cheer on the athletes.
Today, I sat down with Sarah Brown from She Is Not Your Rehab to discuss intergenerational trauma and the healing work she does with her husband, Matt Brown. The She Is Not Your Rehab movement began in Matt's barbershop, where he would host anti-violence workshops and support groups alongside cutting and styling hair.
If you are looking to build a healthy body and peaceful mind, try these yoga postures which use your wall as support. In each posture, notice the support from each surface through your body and your steady, even breaths. See if you can stay in each challenging position for up to 5 breaths.
When it comes to exercise, we often focus on the movement – the squats, lunges, and bicep curls. But there’s another type of exercise that deserves some recognition: holding positions, also known as isometric exercises. These involve maintaining a static posture for a set amount of time, and they offer a surprising range of benefits.
Advertise in our free monthly newspaper, distributed to every person in every prison in Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and the ACT.
Bail is a promise you can make that you will return to court. It means you can stay in the community (instead of jail) until your legal matters finish. If you are being held in custody and you haven’t been found guilty, you may be able to apply for bail. If you are not granted bail, you will be remanded – to be ‘on remand’ means you are waiting in prison for your legal matter to finish.
Bail is a promise you can make that you will return to court. It means you can stay in the community (instead of jail) until your legal matters finish. If you are being held in custody and you haven’t been found guilty, you may be able to apply for bail. If you are not granted bail, you will be remanded – to be ‘on remand’ means you are waiting in prison for your legal matter to finish.
Hello, my name is Ngarra Murray. I’m a Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa and Dja Dja Wurrung woman based in Melbourne on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country.
I’m one of the Co-chairs of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria alongside Gunditjmara man Rueben Berg. We sit on the Assembly together with 31 other Traditional Owners elected by their communities.
Since 2011, The Torch has been providing art, cultural and arts industry support to Indigenous offenders and ex-offenders in Victoria through its Indigenous Arts in Prisons and Community program.
Are you returning to your family?
If you’re returning to your partner:
Beyond the bars, I sit and think about the past
Beyond the bars, I wait and watch the time pass
Beyond the bars, I barely ever see the stars
Beyond the bars, I’m alone in the dark.
Beyond the bars, I try to make my dream last
Beyond the bars, I learnt to walk my own path
Beyond the bars, I always wonder where you are
Beyond the bars, I still remember your laugh.
I’ve tried to write poetry, but I find it hard to do,
I’d like to say in pretty words, just what I think of you.
And what I would like to say, would be something like this:
You make my heart run wild, with just one little kiss.
When I am holding you close, my heart beats like a drum,
And the sparkle in your eyes shines brighter than the sun.
The tenderness of your lips, is much safer than air,
And there is nothing to match the beauty of your hair.
Oh how I can’t stand these nights alone
Wishing that i could just go home
Never thought this is where I’d be
Constantly dreaming of being free
A simple twist of turning key
A little click and the locks on me
I can’t say the way i feel
Surrounded by concrete and steel
I’ve crossed the line from mad to sane
A million times over and back again
No one hears my cries and desperate calls
They just echo off these dungeon walls
Should have known passing through the gate
That once inside I could not escape
Without you i dont think id find a way
To get through the struggles of everyday
When everything just seems so wrong
The thought of you keeps me strong
Whatever torture and heartache remains
Our love will break the chains.
Obey you must O’feeable citizen, do you dare to cross the line?
March in formation and resist temptation, only in film can you live those golden lives.
Transgress not the legal Dogma, For it is not your place to play.
That arena is for the daring and the ones that got away.
It will burn away at your psyche, then maybe should you try?
Or will you cower away from elation, the only true freedom lies in alibi.
It is not without great stigma, and tormenting time away.
But you will only read of it in books? Or gamble courage without delay.
Will you die a dim lit lantern or blaze with fury for what you believe?
Because those that command you of their bidding, are the ones who decree masks to deceive.
Make no mistake in knowing, that the truth is rarely told.
It’s those that break the rules who have Platinum, Diamonds and Gold.
Incarceration builds character, you will wear it with pride & glee.
Know you would much prefer it, then to fade away into obscurity.
We are the noble outlaws, our moral compass free to roam.
Harm wished upon no one, except Tyranny that mans the throne.
Do not point your finger at us, for we are who you crave to be.
True criminals evade your senses, while they tax you in harmony.
Outside these prison walls exists real life,
Going daily about their business in haste.
The hustle and bustle, too busy to stop,
Lives synchronised, and no time to waste.
Mothers with tired children in tow,
Screaming, crying, wanting to go home.
Men in smart suits walking with purpose,
Others oblivious to all, chatting on their phone.
The train station bursting with passengers,
Waiting to board for their trip to work.
Annoyed, frustrated with another day at the office
A young lad on a skateboard, being such a jerk.
A drunken man, filthy clothes, hungry and begging,
No one stops to pander to his feeble please.
So many different faces, voices and religions
A collage of wide and varied nationalities.
All these people have lives of meaning and purpose,
Busy, full, entertaining and hectic lives.
Bonded together by the common thread of family,
There for each other, in times of good or strife.
But inside these prison walls, lives are broken,
Chastened by a system that abhors crime.
Their souls hardened by years of hatred and anger,
No meaning, no purpose, just doing their time.
The clock never stops, while doing
their time.
Our faces are seen above uniforms of green,
We parade in this prison, all shaven clean.
"Another day in paradise", we sarcastically wink,
"We fake it till we make it", we tell our shrink.
We feel like stock on a bar-coded shelf,
Stored, then shifted between warehouses of wealth.
At the mercy of 'sirs';, kids with keys,
Who are half our age, who we need to please.
On our hilltop horizon, some silhouettes appear.
Marching black cattle, grazing on the clear.
A trinity of eagles, wind-surfing thermal waves,
They see both sides of the hill as slaves.
In our prison tents, we queue, single file,
But over the hill, you shop in the same style.
While we crave to return to your 'greener' side,
The eagles see a truth that we all try to hide.
You crave an idyllic pine tree sojourn,
But our star-lit escape costs more than you earn.
You crave spinning windmills where regal eagles reign,
We crave spinning steering wheels and aeroplanes.
You see this tent as Her Majesty's prison,
But the eagle's lens sees a symmetrical prism.
While we bemoan an injustice miscarriage,
You may bemoan a miserable marriage.
Why wallow my walls of incarceration,
Within bedroom walls – your divided nation.
Between each brick you add cement,
When you let the sun set while your heart resents.
We're unleashed when we reach the sentence full-stop.
While you're life-bound to shackles you cannot chop.
Our hill orates its' sermon on the mount,
When we're down, we gaze up at this wisdom fount.
Are you a slave to the debts that never forgive,
While our temporary tent gives us temporary reprieve.
Eagles see paradises, and prisons without bars,
On both sides of the hill, where there's no greener grass.
Q: How do you make a tissue dance?
A: Put a little boogie in it.
Q: Why did the scarecrow receive an award?
A: He was outstanding in his field
Q: What are two things you can’t eat for breakfast?
A: Lunch and dinner.
Q: How much does it cost to swim with sharks?
A: An arm and a leg.
Q: Why can't leopards play hide-and-seek?
A: Because they're always spotted.
Morph one word into another by changing one letter at a time.
Submit a caption to this photo, and we will print the three finalists (including the winner) in the next edition.
Help us get About Time off the ground. All donations are tax deductible and will be vital in providing an essential resource for people in prison and their loved ones.
About Time Media acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands across Australia and particularly acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, traditional owners of the land on which About Time Media is based.
We acknowledge the continuing impacts of the criminal legal system on First Nations people, including disproportionate rates of incarceration and deaths in custody, which remain a national shame.
We pay deep respect to Elders past and present, and all families of those who have lost loved ones in prison.
© About Time Media Ltd.
