In April 2023, the Victorian Government announced that it would raise the age of criminal responsibility in Victoria from 10 to 12 years old in 2024, and to 14 years old by 2027. However, on 13 August 2024, the Victorian Premier announced a suite of suggested legislative changes that will undo that commitment. The age of criminal responsibility will still be increased to 12 years old this year. However, the Government has abandoned its commitment to raise it any further.
Eleanor Bourke, the chair of the Yoorook Justice Commission, has described the decision as contrary to evidence, and said that it will cause a 'tsunami of disappointment'. Similarly, Change the Record, the group behind the national Raise the Age campaign, has expressed its disappointment with the decision, declaring that is not consistent with the minimum standards set by the United Nations and is contrary to evidence that show the earlier a child ends up in jail, the greater their risk of reoffending later in life.
The Victorian Parliament is now preparing to debate the proposed amendments.
About Time will have more on this story in coming editions.
A new $130 million youth detention centre is set to open in Darwin later this year. Detainees at the Don Dale Youth Detention center, where in 2016 the ABC’s Four Corners reported on evidence of torture, are set to relocate to the new 44-bed facility in Holtze in October. The center will be run under a ‘therapeutic’ model of care. The NT government describes this approach as follows:
A therapeutic approach in youth justice settings frames young people as vulnerable and in need of support and healing, as opposed to punishment or fear. It recognises that most young people who offend have complex needs arising from their background, environment, and experiences of past trauma. The focus of a therapeutic approach is on supporting behavioural change and personal development for young people so they can sustain meaningful growth beyond their time in the youth justice centre.
The placement of the facility has been criticised, with the new centre to open next to the existing adult prison.
In 2022, the NT government reported that in September 2021, 50 young people were in detention, with 94% were Aboriginal; 87% male; 70% had previously accessed child protection services and 89% were likely to have a severe neurodevelopmental impairment.
The opposition party, the Canberra Liberals, released a new ‘tough on crime’ policy this month. If elected in the ACT elections on October 19, the Liberals have promised to ‘boost community safety’ by investing in 200 more police officers, a $5 million upgrade to the Woden police station, a new police station in Civic, and continue the transition of the Gungahlin fire, police and ambulance centre into a dedicated police station.
The Liberals also outlined significant changes to the judicial system, including legislating to remove the presumption of bail for those charged with assaulting frontline workers and a standalone offence for breaching bail.
Proposed reforms also include introducing electronic monitoring ankle bracelets for serious offenders, implementing tougher penalties for dangerous driving and 'coward punch' attacks, and introduce ‘wanding laws’ which allow police further powers to scan people for knives and other weapons.
All prisons, courts and youth centres in NSW are now equipped with tools to implement ‘virtual’ care for eligible patients. This comes at a time when prison healthcare is under scrutiny across the country (see Around the Country: Tasmania).
Justice Health NSW Chief Executive Wendy Hoey hopes that by improving access to virtual care, transfers to hospital emergency departments will decrease.
“Patients in correctional settings have unique needs and often worse health outcomes than those in the wider community,” said Ms Hoey.
“Advances in multipurpose medical cameras and scopes are now enabling us to provide high-quality virtual care to better support this vulnerable population.
“Early assessment and treatment planning through virtual care can reduce the need for more urgent care further down the track.”
About Time will have more on this story to see if the virtual care program is functional or whether it causes other issues, and welcomes submissions from people imprisoned in NSW on this topic.
In April 2023, the Victorian Government announced that it would raise the age of criminal responsibility in Victoria from 10 to 12 years old in 2024, and to 14 years old by 2027. However, on 13 August 2024, the Victorian Premier announced a suite of suggested legislative changes that will undo that commitment. The age of criminal responsibility will still be increased to 12 years old this year. However, the Government has abandoned its commitment to raise it any further.
Eleanor Bourke, the chair of the Yoorook Justice Commission, has described the decision as contrary to evidence, and said that it will cause a 'tsunami of disappointment'. Similarly, Change the Record, the group behind the national Raise the Age campaign, has expressed its disappointment with the decision, declaring that is not consistent with the minimum standards set by the United Nations and is contrary to evidence that show the earlier a child ends up in jail, the greater their risk of reoffending later in life.
The Victorian Parliament is now preparing to debate the proposed amendments.
About Time will have more on this story in coming editions.
A new $130 million youth detention centre is set to open in Darwin later this year. Detainees at the Don Dale Youth Detention center, where in 2016 the ABC’s Four Corners reported on evidence of torture, are set to relocate to the new 44-bed facility in Holtze in October. The center will be run under a ‘therapeutic’ model of care. The NT government describes this approach as follows:
A therapeutic approach in youth justice settings frames young people as vulnerable and in need of support and healing, as opposed to punishment or fear. It recognises that most young people who offend have complex needs arising from their background, environment, and experiences of past trauma. The focus of a therapeutic approach is on supporting behavioural change and personal development for young people so they can sustain meaningful growth beyond their time in the youth justice centre.
The placement of the facility has been criticised, with the new centre to open next to the existing adult prison.
In 2022, the NT government reported that in September 2021, 50 young people were in detention, with 94% were Aboriginal; 87% male; 70% had previously accessed child protection services and 89% were likely to have a severe neurodevelopmental impairment.
The opposition party, the Canberra Liberals, released a new ‘tough on crime’ policy this month. If elected in the ACT elections on October 19, the Liberals have promised to ‘boost community safety’ by investing in 200 more police officers, a $5 million upgrade to the Woden police station, a new police station in Civic, and continue the transition of the Gungahlin fire, police and ambulance centre into a dedicated police station.
The Liberals also outlined significant changes to the judicial system, including legislating to remove the presumption of bail for those charged with assaulting frontline workers and a standalone offence for breaching bail.
Proposed reforms also include introducing electronic monitoring ankle bracelets for serious offenders, implementing tougher penalties for dangerous driving and 'coward punch' attacks, and introduce ‘wanding laws’ which allow police further powers to scan people for knives and other weapons.
All prisons, courts and youth centres in NSW are now equipped with tools to implement ‘virtual’ care for eligible patients. This comes at a time when prison healthcare is under scrutiny across the country (see Around the Country: Tasmania).
Justice Health NSW Chief Executive Wendy Hoey hopes that by improving access to virtual care, transfers to hospital emergency departments will decrease.
“Patients in correctional settings have unique needs and often worse health outcomes than those in the wider community,” said Ms Hoey.
“Advances in multipurpose medical cameras and scopes are now enabling us to provide high-quality virtual care to better support this vulnerable population.
“Early assessment and treatment planning through virtual care can reduce the need for more urgent care further down the track.”
About Time will have more on this story to see if the virtual care program is functional or whether it causes other issues, and welcomes submissions from people imprisoned in NSW on this topic.
An exploitative money-making scheme that seeks to profit from the suffering of victims would soon be outlawed under the new proposed laws from the South Australian government.
A draft legislation is under consultation with the government that aims to ban ‘claim farming’ – a predatory practice where people receive kickbacks for referring victims to law firms.
The practice often targets vulnerable individuals, although most recently highlighted by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to child sexual abuse were the victims of child sexual abuse receiving unsolicited mails from alleged law firms claiming compensation.
The proposed law would impose fines of up to $50,000 for those engaging in claim farming and potentially lead to disciplinary action against legal practitioners involved.
This move follows similar efforts in Queensland and is part of a broader push to address this issue nationwide.
SA Attorney General, Kyam Maher, said that a number of predatory, exploitative operators have sought to take advantage of vulnerable victims by entering the ‘survivor advocacy business’ – “seeking to make a quick buck off someone else’s trauma.”
“They often treat vulnerable cohorts or communities, and use high pressure tactics that often equate to harassment or intimidation. They may use misleading or dishonest tactics to discourage victim survivors from using the freely available legal assistance services which take a trauma informed approach.”
While the practice is not commonly practiced in South Australia, there are concerns that increasing regulations in other jurisdictions are seeing these unscrupulous operators look to establish themselves in locations where the practice is still legal, which is why it is imperative we act now.”
The Queensland government has announced an investigation into Brisbane mental health institution, Wolston Park, following reports of historical allegations of abuse at the facility.
Former patients spoke about the alleged abuse they suffered in Wolston Park for the first time in an investigation by the ABC. They also expressed difficulty accessing their medical files, which have now been unsealed after 100 years.
Dr Adele Chynoweth is the author of Goodna Girls, a book about former wards of the state placed in Wolston Park.
"[The women I spoke with] talked about… solitary confinement, rape, torture… the lack of any kind of education, socialisation [and] this punitive, chemical straight-jacketing experience they endured," she said.
Wolston Park closed in 2001, but has been surrounded by allegations of physical and sexual abuse, as well as chemical restraints from the 1950s to 80s.
"It is my understanding that previous inquiries may have not have properly captured the experiences of all people impacted, including the experiences of children or adult patients who were not considered wards of the state," Health Minister Shannon Fentiman told the ABC.
Fentiman had directed the Mental Health Commissioner to launch an investigation into the health services provided by Wolston Park between the 1950s to 1990s.
While the investigation would not “undo the harm caused”, Fentiman hoped it would allow those impacted to “share their experiences and to heal”.
The investigation is expected to take about six months.
"There are powers under the Queensland Mental Health Commission Act for the mental health commissioner to conduct a special investigation… in a trauma-informed way," said Fentiman.
"I have no doubt that some of the key findings and recommendations will be made public. I think that's a really important part of the truth-telling and healing journey for these former patients."
Reports from the Tasmanian Custodial Inspector have raised serious and significant concerns about custodial conditions and access to adequate health services for inmates.
In July, the Custodial Inspector released reports into the health and wellbeing of adults and children in custody. Serious and ongoing health concerns were identified in the reports, including the ongoing use of ‘lockdowns’ (where prisoners are kept in their cells for extended periods of time), as well as a lack of access to adequate health services. Mental health care for children in custody at Ashley Youth Detention Centre was also raised as a significant concern, with the report finding there had been no meaningful increase in the access to mental health services since the previous report had made the recommendation for these services to increase.
A further report was released in August which found prisoners at Risdon Prison are frequently being held in ‘dry cells’, constantly lit spaces with no running water or external windows.
This is a practice which breaches the United Nations’ standards for the treatment of prisoners and can lead to serious health and safety concerns.
Advocates are calling for immediate action to end the practice of dry cells, to uphold the rights of detainees and improve the health and safety conditions of inmates and staff.
Pressure is mounting on the Western Australian government to act on the state’s youth detention system.
On 15 August 2024, the Commission for Children and Young People report on youth detention was tabled in parliament. The Hear Me Out report contains testimony from children as young as 10 about their experiences of incarceration. Many children interviewed had complex needs, including intellectual disabilities and neurodivergence.
They speak of racism, use of force, lack of programs, severe understaffing and lockdowns. One child described his experience as “being in a zoo.”
The report presented 16 recommendations to parliament, and an update required on progress by November.
The inquiry was commissioned following the death of 16-year-old Yamatji boy, Cleveland Dodd, in October 2023.
Dodd tragically passed away after attempting to take his own life while incarcerated in Unit 18, which was then a temporary youth detention facility within Casuarina Prison, a maximum-security adult jail. It’s the first reported case of a juvenile death in custody in the state. No closure date for Unit 18 has been set. The coronial inquest into his passing finished in August this year, and About Time will keep readers informed of the findings.
An exploitative money-making scheme that seeks to profit from the suffering of victims would soon be outlawed under the new proposed laws from the South Australian government.
A draft legislation is under consultation with the government that aims to ban ‘claim farming’ – a predatory practice where people receive kickbacks for referring victims to law firms.
The practice often targets vulnerable individuals, although most recently highlighted by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to child sexual abuse were the victims of child sexual abuse receiving unsolicited mails from alleged law firms claiming compensation.
The proposed law would impose fines of up to $50,000 for those engaging in claim farming and potentially lead to disciplinary action against legal practitioners involved.
This move follows similar efforts in Queensland and is part of a broader push to address this issue nationwide.
SA Attorney General, Kyam Maher, said that a number of predatory, exploitative operators have sought to take advantage of vulnerable victims by entering the ‘survivor advocacy business’ – “seeking to make a quick buck off someone else’s trauma.”
“They often treat vulnerable cohorts or communities, and use high pressure tactics that often equate to harassment or intimidation. They may use misleading or dishonest tactics to discourage victim survivors from using the freely available legal assistance services which take a trauma informed approach.”
While the practice is not commonly practiced in South Australia, there are concerns that increasing regulations in other jurisdictions are seeing these unscrupulous operators look to establish themselves in locations where the practice is still legal, which is why it is imperative we act now.”
The Queensland government has announced an investigation into Brisbane mental health institution, Wolston Park, following reports of historical allegations of abuse at the facility.
Former patients spoke about the alleged abuse they suffered in Wolston Park for the first time in an investigation by the ABC. They also expressed difficulty accessing their medical files, which have now been unsealed after 100 years.
Dr Adele Chynoweth is the author of Goodna Girls, a book about former wards of the state placed in Wolston Park.
"[The women I spoke with] talked about… solitary confinement, rape, torture… the lack of any kind of education, socialisation [and] this punitive, chemical straight-jacketing experience they endured," she said.
Wolston Park closed in 2001, but has been surrounded by allegations of physical and sexual abuse, as well as chemical restraints from the 1950s to 80s.
"It is my understanding that previous inquiries may have not have properly captured the experiences of all people impacted, including the experiences of children or adult patients who were not considered wards of the state," Health Minister Shannon Fentiman told the ABC.
Fentiman had directed the Mental Health Commissioner to launch an investigation into the health services provided by Wolston Park between the 1950s to 1990s.
While the investigation would not “undo the harm caused”, Fentiman hoped it would allow those impacted to “share their experiences and to heal”.
The investigation is expected to take about six months.
"There are powers under the Queensland Mental Health Commission Act for the mental health commissioner to conduct a special investigation… in a trauma-informed way," said Fentiman.
"I have no doubt that some of the key findings and recommendations will be made public. I think that's a really important part of the truth-telling and healing journey for these former patients."
Reports from the Tasmanian Custodial Inspector have raised serious and significant concerns about custodial conditions and access to adequate health services for inmates.
In July, the Custodial Inspector released reports into the health and wellbeing of adults and children in custody. Serious and ongoing health concerns were identified in the reports, including the ongoing use of ‘lockdowns’ (where prisoners are kept in their cells for extended periods of time), as well as a lack of access to adequate health services. Mental health care for children in custody at Ashley Youth Detention Centre was also raised as a significant concern, with the report finding there had been no meaningful increase in the access to mental health services since the previous report had made the recommendation for these services to increase.
A further report was released in August which found prisoners at Risdon Prison are frequently being held in ‘dry cells’, constantly lit spaces with no running water or external windows.
This is a practice which breaches the United Nations’ standards for the treatment of prisoners and can lead to serious health and safety concerns.
Advocates are calling for immediate action to end the practice of dry cells, to uphold the rights of detainees and improve the health and safety conditions of inmates and staff.
Pressure is mounting on the Western Australian government to act on the state’s youth detention system.
On 15 August 2024, the Commission for Children and Young People report on youth detention was tabled in parliament. The Hear Me Out report contains testimony from children as young as 10 about their experiences of incarceration. Many children interviewed had complex needs, including intellectual disabilities and neurodivergence.
They speak of racism, use of force, lack of programs, severe understaffing and lockdowns. One child described his experience as “being in a zoo.”
The report presented 16 recommendations to parliament, and an update required on progress by November.
The inquiry was commissioned following the death of 16-year-old Yamatji boy, Cleveland Dodd, in October 2023.
Dodd tragically passed away after attempting to take his own life while incarcerated in Unit 18, which was then a temporary youth detention facility within Casuarina Prison, a maximum-security adult jail. It’s the first reported case of a juvenile death in custody in the state. No closure date for Unit 18 has been set. The coronial inquest into his passing finished in August this year, and About Time will keep readers informed of the findings.
Including tough bail laws being introduced in Victoria, the South Australian Government ruling out raising the age of criminal responsibility, a new parole board president appointed in Queensland and more.
The Australian Federal election is coming up. This is about voting for the Prime Minister and other federal politicians. It will be held on 3 May 2025.
“We can’t get information about how a party or candidate’s policies must impact prisoners,” Kelly told About Time. ‘Prison officers also will not provide us with any information as it is seen as political.”
Prison work differs across the country.
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.
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.
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