ISSUE NO. 11
June 2025
Donate Here

Letters

A Letter of Encouragement

By
Stenzy

Stenzy writes from Brisbane Correctional Centre in Queensland.

Caspar Rae via Unsplash

To all my Brothers and Brethren in the pen,

My name is Isaac, but everyone knows me as Stenzy. I have just served the most part of five years for armed robbery and GBH and got nearly one and a half left on parole. I calculated all the time I’ve done the other day and I’ve done about eight years all up from 2012 to 2025 – one year being the longest I’ve been out and three and a half the longest lagging I’ve done. I feel I’ve gone from 26 to 39 overnight and well appreciate how valuable time is now. And, going in and out, I have lost many nice places, relationships and family possessions. It’s not easy, and sometimes I think it would have been easier doing the whole lot inside. In fact, I know it would have been easier inside. I want to say you can turn your experience here into a very beneficial thing.

But, unfortunately, the truth is the more we get locked up the easier it is to come back and the harder it is to stay out. But also when you think about it, this place teaches us so many good things (if we could just implement them outside), especially routine, resilience, patience, self-control, grace and humility. But, most importantly, I think it builds character.

And if you’re like me the suicide squad are some pretty cool ones (LOL). But Brothers, seriously, when you look at how much worse off other people in the world have it and you truly understand there really is no rock bottom, then you start to see there are no limits to how good our life could be (and out of anyone we deserve it!). Life is not so bad at all. I had the privilege in Brisbane Correctional Centre to rap and sing in front of the Elders for NAIDOC Week 2023 and it is something I will never forget. My song that I performed can be found on Soundcloud under Stenzy – Wolves if any Brothers are interested, when they get out. I wrote it for us.

Peace always,

From Stenzy.

To all my Brothers and Brethren in the pen,

My name is Isaac, but everyone knows me as Stenzy. I have just served the most part of five years for armed robbery and GBH and got nearly one and a half left on parole. I calculated all the time I’ve done the other day and I’ve done about eight years all up from 2012 to 2025 – one year being the longest I’ve been out and three and a half the longest lagging I’ve done. I feel I’ve gone from 26 to 39 overnight and well appreciate how valuable time is now. And, going in and out, I have lost many nice places, relationships and family possessions. It’s not easy, and sometimes I think it would have been easier doing the whole lot inside. In fact, I know it would have been easier inside. I want to say you can turn your experience here into a very beneficial thing.

But, unfortunately, the truth is the more we get locked up the easier it is to come back and the harder it is to stay out. But also when you think about it, this place teaches us so many good things (if we could just implement them outside), especially routine, resilience, patience, self-control, grace and humility. But, most importantly, I think it builds character.

And if you’re like me the suicide squad are some pretty cool ones (LOL). But Brothers, seriously, when you look at how much worse off other people in the world have it and you truly understand there really is no rock bottom, then you start to see there are no limits to how good our life could be (and out of anyone we deserve it!). Life is not so bad at all. I had the privilege in Brisbane Correctional Centre to rap and sing in front of the Elders for NAIDOC Week 2023 and it is something I will never forget. My song that I performed can be found on Soundcloud under Stenzy – Wolves if any Brothers are interested, when they get out. I wrote it for us.

Peace always,

From Stenzy.

Sistas, Support Each Other!

By Anonymous

This letter is to remind you all that, as Sistas, we need to be there for one another to raise women up.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 23

2 MIN READ

Strip Searches

By Nikita

It’s daunting enough when you get arrested by police, then placed into custody and thrown into a cell. Then you have to go through a degrading strip search.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 23

1 MIN READ

If It’s Broken, Then Fix It

By Andrew

I’ve spent most of my adult life behind bars, and I’m not proud to say it. It’s been such a bloody waste.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 23

3 MIN READ

Routine is Good, Not Bad

By Dane

Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in prison can relate to the concept of prison rituals and routines.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 23

3 MIN READ

Welcome to About Time

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

Your browser window currently does not have enough height, or is zoomed in too far to view our website content correctly. Once the window reaches the minimum required height or zoom percentage, the content will display automatically.

Alternatively, you can learn more via the links below.

Donations via GiveNow

Email

Instagram

LinkedIn

Help Us Keep Publishing About Time

Without About Time, I don’t know where I would be – Mark, from a prison in Victoria

We need your help so that we can print and distribute the paper to every person in every prison for at least the next year. We value whatever you can spare, no matter how big or small.

Australia’s prison population is growing, and our many prisons are spread far and wide.

We need your help so that we can print and distribute the paper to every person in every prison for at least the next year. We need your help to cover postage for anyone who sends us a letter from the inside.

We value whatever you can spare, no matter how big or small.