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

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ISSUE NO. 17
December 2025
Donate Here

Mob

Artwork From The Torch – Issue No. 17

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.

Southern Songlines #6, Luke Mc, Wulgurukaba people, 2024, acrylic on canvas

The Lands of the Namoi River People

By Hippai Francis
Kamilaroi people
2025

Looking down on the lands of the Namoi River people from the Guinbrai clan, the stylised river flows across the land. Along the river are the meeting places of the Guinbrai families, shown as fireplaces with people sitting around them. Since time immemorial, the families have gathered, living in their gunyahs and cooking in earth ovens. They are born, grow, live, hunt and gather around the river and wetlands and the surrounding mountains, hills, and plains. Here children played; here people died and are buried. Along the river, events over the generations are remembered in the clan’s Songlines. It is a great tapestry of human life and of the world around them. The surrounding country, with its plains, woodlands, forests, hills, and mountains is represented. The pictorial inserts show common trees such as the cypress pine, red gum, wilga, and wattles. Important totem animals are also shown, such as the red kangaroo, emu and red cockatoo, and the sky with its own life. The seasons are seen top to bottom.

The Lands of the Namoi River People

By Hippai Francis
Kamilaroi people
2025

Looking down on the lands of the Namoi River people from the Guinbrai clan, the stylised river flows across the land. Along the river are the meeting places of the Guinbrai families, shown as fireplaces with people sitting around them. Since time immemorial, the families have gathered, living in their gunyahs and cooking in earth ovens. They are born, grow, live, hunt and gather around the river and wetlands and the surrounding mountains, hills, and plains. Here children played; here people died and are buried. Along the river, events over the generations are remembered in the clan’s Songlines. It is a great tapestry of human life and of the world around them. The surrounding country, with its plains, woodlands, forests, hills, and mountains is represented. The pictorial inserts show common trees such as the cypress pine, red gum, wilga, and wattles. Important totem animals are also shown, such as the red kangaroo, emu and red cockatoo, and the sky with its own life. The seasons are seen top to bottom.

I’m Proud to Say I’m an Aboriginal Man

By Matthew

I’m sick of doing crime, I’m sick of doing jail. It’s time to put pen to paper, and send this in the mail.

Mob

ISSUE NO. 20

1 MIN READ

Artwork From The Torch – Issue 20

By The Torch

Two new artworks from First Nations artists.

Mob

ISSUE NO. 20

2 MIN READ

Impact of Jail Time on Aboriginal People

By Geoff

Being in a space that does not acknowledge, respond to or understand you can be deeply challenging.

Mob

ISSUE NO. 20

2 MIN READ

Walking on History: Sharing Culture and Country

By the Teelack Brothers

It all has a history. So just take a second to think on how old that could be and where it came from or even who or how it could have got there.

Mob

ISSUE NO. 19

3 MIN READ