The Northern Territory government has announced the repurposing of rehabilitation services in Darwin and Alice Springs into two new women’s prisons. A total of 140 new beds for incarcerated women will be made available, with 130 women to be housed at the new Darwin facility and 30 in Alice Springs.
The move is part of an increased funding commitment to prison expansion in the NT, with $57 million allocated in the Territory’s 2024-2025 budget to the establishment of two standalone women’s prisons in Darwin and Alice Springs, and the refurbishing of Don Dale Youth Detention Centre as a training facility for incarcerated men. A further $34 million has been committed to upgrading the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
The move to create two new women’s prisons has been described by the NT Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley as the largest infrastructure expansion in the Northern Territory’s prison system over the past decade.
Questions remain about the implications of this move for delivery of alcohol and drug services in the NT. Mission Australia Residential Rehabilitation Service (MAARTS) rehabilitation facility offers a 12-week program with 40 beds available to assist individuals, mainly those exiting custody, to overcome drug and alcohol dependency. The ABC has reported that the upcoming closure of MAARTS will leave four residential rehabilitation clinics remaining in Darwin, with services struggling to cope with overwhelming demand.
Victoria is set to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 after the measure was introduced to parliament in June as part of its new Youth Justice Bill. If the bill is passed, Victoria will become the first state and third jurisdiction (after the ACT and NT) where young people aged 10 and 11 cannot be held criminally responsible for their offending. The Victorian Government had previously said it would raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027 but this reform was not included in the bill, raising concerns among many Aboriginal justice advocates and legal and health experts who have been calling for the age to be raised to 14 immediately. The Youth Justice Bill also includes a new system of warnings, cautions and diversions to keep more young people out of the criminal justice system. The bill will also introduce an electronic monitoring trial of young people on bail, new police transport powers for young people aged 10 and 11, and make it easier to transfer children aged 16 and over to adult prisons.
Over 100 people have recently signed a letter to NSW Parliament seeking to overturn No Body, No Parole laws. These laws prohibit parole for people who have been convicted of homicide but have not provided information on the location of the victims' body. The laws were enacted to encourage people to reveal the location of victim’s bodies, in order to provide closure for their families and loved ones.
However, the letter, initiated by the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative, and notably signed by Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and Kathleen Folbigg (two of Australia’s most famous wrongfully convicted people), argues that the law is not working as designed and has negative impacts on those wrongfully convicted.
The letter contends that the laws have prevented people who maintain their innocence (and who may be innocent) from receiving parole.
The open letter calls for the removal of these laws and urges the NSW government to restore the discretion of the State Parole Authority in determining whether people affected by these laws deserve parole.
Coercive control is now punishable by up to seven years imprisonment. Coercive control is a form of domestic abuse; a pattern of behaviour that includes financial control, intimidation, threatening to harm people’s pets or loved ones, tracking someone down, and isolating them from friends and family. The law criminalising coercive control was passed in 2022 and came into effect on 1 July 2024.
Help Line: 1800 737 732
Bail is now harder to obtain for people charged with serious domestic violence offences. Serious domestic violence offences are those carrying a maximum penalty of 14 or more years imprisonment. These include sexual assault, kidnapping and the new offence of coercive control. These offences are now included in the list of ‘show cause’ offences. For a ‘show cause’ offence, the bail decision-maker must refuse bail unless the accused shows why detention is not justified. People released on bail for show cause offences are subject to electronic monitoring.
The changes also expand the categories of offences eligible for bail decisions to be ‘stayed.’ Stayed means the accused remains in custody while prosecutors prepare a Supreme Court detention application to challenge the person’s release on bail. The categories of offences include serious domestic violence and sexual assault offences.
The ACT government has allocated $630,000 in additional funding to restorative justice measures. Restorative justice refers to an approach that gives people harmed by criminal offences, and those responsible, the chance to engage in a meaningful way about the offending and its impact.
"Restorative justice provides an important mechanism for persons harmed by domestic, family and sexual violence to seek accountability and redress," said the Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury.
A recent evaluation by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that restorative justice met a range of needs of victim-survivors that were difficult to achieve in other parts of the criminal justice system, including feelings of safety, being heard and regaining a sense of control.
The funding will provide for additional resources for the ACT’s restorative justice scheme, with an aim to increase accessibility for victim-survivors of sexual violence. Specifically, the funding is intended to cut down on wait times and improve accessibility.
In addition to the funding boost, the government has also appointed RMIT University’s Centre for Innovative Justice to conduct a review of the ACT’s Restorative Justice Scheme. One of the focuses of the review will be research into alternative civil justice options for victim-survivors of sexual violence.
The inquest into the death of Justin James Cordy ran from 8 to 19 July 2024. Mr Cordy died by suicide in his cell at AMC on 26 February 2023 and was subject to an investigation by the state Coroner. A Coronial Inquest is a process whereby the Coroner’s Court, run by a Coroner, investigates the causes of death, determines if the death could have been prevented, and provides recommendations to government about how to prevent further deaths from occurring. The inquest heard evidence that staff failed to check on Mr Cordy for over an hour because they were on their lunch break, despite being on an hourly observation plan. Mr Cordy did not indicate he was suicidal when triaged by a mental health nurse.
At the start of the inquest, Mr Cordy’s ex partner, Sheryl Cordy, spoke about the impact of the death on the family, calling him an “amazing father, loved by his children” and that Mr Cordy had a “great sense of humour and lit up the room”.
The inquest investigated the causes of Mr Cordy’s passing, and if his death could have been prevented. About Time will keep readers informed about findings from the investigation once they are published.
In Western Australia, stricter penalties for shoplifting and assaults on retail workers came into effect from July. People who assault retail workers face penalties of up to seven years in prison, or 10 years if undertaken with associates or if the offender is armed.
Previously, assaulting a retail worker in the cause of their duties attracted a maximum 18-month prison sentence and a fine of $18,000.
Prison is now also an available sentence for shoplifting. Previously, ‘shop theft’ was a ‘fine only’ offence. Now, people can face jail time if they have two or more relevant priors. The maximum penalty is two years imprisonment and a $24,000 fine.
The changes to the law came after a survey of retail workers reported over a 50% increase in the number of assaults from the two years prior.
New footage from Queensland’s adult police watch houses published by Guardian Australia and SBS The Feed has shown children subjected to harsh conditions. In one clip, a 13-year-old girl with a disability, Sam*, harmed herself on the floor of an isolation cell. In another, a boy with asthma was shown having difficulty breathing in a cramped cell after a fire. The State Government had suspended its Human Rights Act to allow children to be detained in these cells, often alongside adults.
Watch houses, designed as temporary holding facilities, have become over-crowded due to high-arrest police operations. Children, particularly those with disabilities, can experience extreme distress in these conditions.
The State’s Human Rights Commissioner and the Office of the Public Guardian have condemned the treatment, while the Queensland Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer has emphasised that appropriate oversight mechanisms are in place to prevent this conduct.
The South Australian Government has announced that it is expanding the Yatala Labour Prison by 312 beds, and the Adelaide Women’s Prison by 40 beds, taking their capacities to 1,158 and 316 beds respectively. This increase in capacity is part of the state's largest ever investment in its prison system totalling $226 million. Work will begin on the Adelaide Women’s Prison in January 2025, and work at Yatala commences August 2026.
The investment is intended to reduce the burden on the prison system. The Chief Executive of the Department of Correctional Services states that the Department is committed to reducing reoffending by 20 per cent by 2026.
This sentiment is not shared by all. The National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls (National Network) urged the state government to divest from the prison system, and instead redistribute the funds towards community-based support and services as the investment may perpetuate a cycle of harm.
Similarly, the Justice Reform Initiative argues that the government’s investment is not consistent with its commitment to reduce reoffending rates, but instead is an expensive and ineffective method of breaking the cycle of reincarceration.
The South Australian Government has also announced that it is investing more than $15 million over the next four years into the justice system. This investment includes $5.8 million into the maintenance of, and upgrades to the Justice Audio Visual Link network used to facilitate appearances in court for individuals who have been detained, or are otherwise unable to access the court.
The recently published report of the Office of the Custodial Inspectorate found that lockdowns are detrimental to the health of incarcerated people. The report consists of a summary of findings from five prison inspections from 2022-2023 and provides 117 recommendations for improving the wellbeing of people in correctional centres.
Lockdowns were found to occur for days at a time during which prisoners were left in isolation in their cells.
The report outlined how lockdowns prevent incarcerated people from accessing doctors and other healthcare services and often cause declines in their mental wellbeing.
One example was of a person who tried to pull out his own teeth. The report blamed the lockdowns on staff shortages.
The Office of the Custodial Inspectorate is an independent oversight body that reports each year on the running of custodial centres. The government does not have to act on the recommendations of the Office of the Custodial Inspectorate. The report also noted that only 12 of the 46 recommendations from a 2017 investigative report had been fully implemented.
The Northern Territory government has announced the repurposing of rehabilitation services in Darwin and Alice Springs into two new women’s prisons. A total of 140 new beds for incarcerated women will be made available, with 130 women to be housed at the new Darwin facility and 30 in Alice Springs.
The move is part of an increased funding commitment to prison expansion in the NT, with $57 million allocated in the Territory’s 2024-2025 budget to the establishment of two standalone women’s prisons in Darwin and Alice Springs, and the refurbishing of Don Dale Youth Detention Centre as a training facility for incarcerated men. A further $34 million has been committed to upgrading the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
The move to create two new women’s prisons has been described by the NT Corrections Commissioner Matthew Varley as the largest infrastructure expansion in the Northern Territory’s prison system over the past decade.
Questions remain about the implications of this move for delivery of alcohol and drug services in the NT. Mission Australia Residential Rehabilitation Service (MAARTS) rehabilitation facility offers a 12-week program with 40 beds available to assist individuals, mainly those exiting custody, to overcome drug and alcohol dependency. The ABC has reported that the upcoming closure of MAARTS will leave four residential rehabilitation clinics remaining in Darwin, with services struggling to cope with overwhelming demand.
Victoria is set to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12 after the measure was introduced to parliament in June as part of its new Youth Justice Bill. If the bill is passed, Victoria will become the first state and third jurisdiction (after the ACT and NT) where young people aged 10 and 11 cannot be held criminally responsible for their offending. The Victorian Government had previously said it would raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027 but this reform was not included in the bill, raising concerns among many Aboriginal justice advocates and legal and health experts who have been calling for the age to be raised to 14 immediately. The Youth Justice Bill also includes a new system of warnings, cautions and diversions to keep more young people out of the criminal justice system. The bill will also introduce an electronic monitoring trial of young people on bail, new police transport powers for young people aged 10 and 11, and make it easier to transfer children aged 16 and over to adult prisons.
Over 100 people have recently signed a letter to NSW Parliament seeking to overturn No Body, No Parole laws. These laws prohibit parole for people who have been convicted of homicide but have not provided information on the location of the victims' body. The laws were enacted to encourage people to reveal the location of victim’s bodies, in order to provide closure for their families and loved ones.
However, the letter, initiated by the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative, and notably signed by Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and Kathleen Folbigg (two of Australia’s most famous wrongfully convicted people), argues that the law is not working as designed and has negative impacts on those wrongfully convicted.
The letter contends that the laws have prevented people who maintain their innocence (and who may be innocent) from receiving parole.
The open letter calls for the removal of these laws and urges the NSW government to restore the discretion of the State Parole Authority in determining whether people affected by these laws deserve parole.
Coercive control is now punishable by up to seven years imprisonment. Coercive control is a form of domestic abuse; a pattern of behaviour that includes financial control, intimidation, threatening to harm people’s pets or loved ones, tracking someone down, and isolating them from friends and family. The law criminalising coercive control was passed in 2022 and came into effect on 1 July 2024.
Help Line: 1800 737 732
Bail is now harder to obtain for people charged with serious domestic violence offences. Serious domestic violence offences are those carrying a maximum penalty of 14 or more years imprisonment. These include sexual assault, kidnapping and the new offence of coercive control. These offences are now included in the list of ‘show cause’ offences. For a ‘show cause’ offence, the bail decision-maker must refuse bail unless the accused shows why detention is not justified. People released on bail for show cause offences are subject to electronic monitoring.
The changes also expand the categories of offences eligible for bail decisions to be ‘stayed.’ Stayed means the accused remains in custody while prosecutors prepare a Supreme Court detention application to challenge the person’s release on bail. The categories of offences include serious domestic violence and sexual assault offences.
The ACT government has allocated $630,000 in additional funding to restorative justice measures. Restorative justice refers to an approach that gives people harmed by criminal offences, and those responsible, the chance to engage in a meaningful way about the offending and its impact.
"Restorative justice provides an important mechanism for persons harmed by domestic, family and sexual violence to seek accountability and redress," said the Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury.
A recent evaluation by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that restorative justice met a range of needs of victim-survivors that were difficult to achieve in other parts of the criminal justice system, including feelings of safety, being heard and regaining a sense of control.
The funding will provide for additional resources for the ACT’s restorative justice scheme, with an aim to increase accessibility for victim-survivors of sexual violence. Specifically, the funding is intended to cut down on wait times and improve accessibility.
In addition to the funding boost, the government has also appointed RMIT University’s Centre for Innovative Justice to conduct a review of the ACT’s Restorative Justice Scheme. One of the focuses of the review will be research into alternative civil justice options for victim-survivors of sexual violence.
The inquest into the death of Justin James Cordy ran from 8 to 19 July 2024. Mr Cordy died by suicide in his cell at AMC on 26 February 2023 and was subject to an investigation by the state Coroner. A Coronial Inquest is a process whereby the Coroner’s Court, run by a Coroner, investigates the causes of death, determines if the death could have been prevented, and provides recommendations to government about how to prevent further deaths from occurring. The inquest heard evidence that staff failed to check on Mr Cordy for over an hour because they were on their lunch break, despite being on an hourly observation plan. Mr Cordy did not indicate he was suicidal when triaged by a mental health nurse.
At the start of the inquest, Mr Cordy’s ex partner, Sheryl Cordy, spoke about the impact of the death on the family, calling him an “amazing father, loved by his children” and that Mr Cordy had a “great sense of humour and lit up the room”.
The inquest investigated the causes of Mr Cordy’s passing, and if his death could have been prevented. About Time will keep readers informed about findings from the investigation once they are published.
In Western Australia, stricter penalties for shoplifting and assaults on retail workers came into effect from July. People who assault retail workers face penalties of up to seven years in prison, or 10 years if undertaken with associates or if the offender is armed.
Previously, assaulting a retail worker in the cause of their duties attracted a maximum 18-month prison sentence and a fine of $18,000.
Prison is now also an available sentence for shoplifting. Previously, ‘shop theft’ was a ‘fine only’ offence. Now, people can face jail time if they have two or more relevant priors. The maximum penalty is two years imprisonment and a $24,000 fine.
The changes to the law came after a survey of retail workers reported over a 50% increase in the number of assaults from the two years prior.
New footage from Queensland’s adult police watch houses published by Guardian Australia and SBS The Feed has shown children subjected to harsh conditions. In one clip, a 13-year-old girl with a disability, Sam*, harmed herself on the floor of an isolation cell. In another, a boy with asthma was shown having difficulty breathing in a cramped cell after a fire. The State Government had suspended its Human Rights Act to allow children to be detained in these cells, often alongside adults.
Watch houses, designed as temporary holding facilities, have become over-crowded due to high-arrest police operations. Children, particularly those with disabilities, can experience extreme distress in these conditions.
The State’s Human Rights Commissioner and the Office of the Public Guardian have condemned the treatment, while the Queensland Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer has emphasised that appropriate oversight mechanisms are in place to prevent this conduct.
The South Australian Government has announced that it is expanding the Yatala Labour Prison by 312 beds, and the Adelaide Women’s Prison by 40 beds, taking their capacities to 1,158 and 316 beds respectively. This increase in capacity is part of the state's largest ever investment in its prison system totalling $226 million. Work will begin on the Adelaide Women’s Prison in January 2025, and work at Yatala commences August 2026.
The investment is intended to reduce the burden on the prison system. The Chief Executive of the Department of Correctional Services states that the Department is committed to reducing reoffending by 20 per cent by 2026.
This sentiment is not shared by all. The National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls (National Network) urged the state government to divest from the prison system, and instead redistribute the funds towards community-based support and services as the investment may perpetuate a cycle of harm.
Similarly, the Justice Reform Initiative argues that the government’s investment is not consistent with its commitment to reduce reoffending rates, but instead is an expensive and ineffective method of breaking the cycle of reincarceration.
The South Australian Government has also announced that it is investing more than $15 million over the next four years into the justice system. This investment includes $5.8 million into the maintenance of, and upgrades to the Justice Audio Visual Link network used to facilitate appearances in court for individuals who have been detained, or are otherwise unable to access the court.
The recently published report of the Office of the Custodial Inspectorate found that lockdowns are detrimental to the health of incarcerated people. The report consists of a summary of findings from five prison inspections from 2022-2023 and provides 117 recommendations for improving the wellbeing of people in correctional centres.
Lockdowns were found to occur for days at a time during which prisoners were left in isolation in their cells.
The report outlined how lockdowns prevent incarcerated people from accessing doctors and other healthcare services and often cause declines in their mental wellbeing.
One example was of a person who tried to pull out his own teeth. The report blamed the lockdowns on staff shortages.
The Office of the Custodial Inspectorate is an independent oversight body that reports each year on the running of custodial centres. The government does not have to act on the recommendations of the Office of the Custodial Inspectorate. The report also noted that only 12 of the 46 recommendations from a 2017 investigative report had been fully implemented.
The latest criminal news from around the country, including new laws to combat ‘deepfake’ pornography, a landmark report on the CLC industry, and a review of First Nations over-incarceration.
It doesn’t feel like it’s already been eight years since I was in prison myself, wishing there was any way that people in custody could express themselves and feel heard. I asked around if there was any kind of prison newsletter or magazine, but nobody had even heard of one.
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.
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.
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.
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