People who share content online about committing serious crimes will face an additional two years in jail as the state government announces a crackdown on so-called “posting and boasting”.
Under new legislation that the Victorian Government introduced to Parliament in mid-June, anyone found guilty of a specified serious crime who has also posted about it on social media or a messaging app will face an additional two years imprisonment.
The crimes covered by the legislation include affray, burglary and robbery, car theft, carjacking, home invasions and violent disorder.
The state government said the legislation is needed to respond to a trend of people “chasing clout” by posting about crimes on apps such as TikTok and SnapChat, which it says “encourages copycat offending, retraumatises victims and deeply disturbs the community”.
Posting about a crime online can currently be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing, but the new law will see more prison time imposed.
The law will not apply to third parties such as witnesses, bystanders or journalists.
Victoria’s first fixed pill-testing site will open this month in Fitzroy for an initial 12-month trial.
To be located at 95 Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, the facility will be able to test most pills, capsules, powders, crystals and liquids and will operate from Thursday to Saturday.
The pill-testing site will provide confidential and non-judgemental harm reduction advice from health professionals, and the service will be able to detect highly dangerous synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes, which can be mixed with other drugs.
The site will be operated by Youth Support and Advocacy Services, The Loop Australia and Harm Reduction Victoria and will partner with Melbourne Health, Youth Projects
and Metabolomics Australia.
It comes after a trial of mobile pill testing was run at five music festivals over the last summer.
These sites tested almost 1,400 drug samples, with 11 per cent of these samples returning results that included unexpected substances.
The ACT has become the first Australian jurisdiction to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years old.
This means that children aged under 14 will be provided with support and services to help address the causes of their offending, rather than being charged.
The age of criminal responsibility in the ACT was raised to 12 in late 2023.
There will be exceptions to this for serious crimes such as murder, intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm and specific sexual offences.
The move has been welcomed by advocates and experts, including National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds.
“Criminalising young children really does no-one any good,” Hollonds said. “It doesn’t help the children – in fact, it harms the children – but also it doesn’t keep communities any safer.”
While the ACT has raised the age, a number of other Australian states and territories are either lowering the age or going back on plans to increase it.
The Northern Territory recently lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10, while the Victorian government has ditched plans to raise the age to 14.
An independent prison inspector has urged the Western Australian Government to provide limited internet access to people in prison undertaking university studies.
In a review of the Boronia Pre-Release Centre for Women, Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan found that a lack of internet access was hampering the ability of those in the centre to complete educational programs.
“We heard that access to education and self-improvement courses were often hampered by limited or no access to online education resources and materials,” Ryan said.
Two people at Boronia have received laptops from the University of Southern Queensland with pre-loaded content, but they are unable to access extra online educational materials, conduct research and engage in interactive learning activities.
“With such technology not readily available in prisons, this significantly impacts full participation and student completion rates,” Ryan said.
The Inspector recommended that the state government look at options to introduce “controlled, secure internet access to tertiary students in prison”, but this was not supported.
The inspection report also found there were long delays in gaining approval for external activities such as employment, work outside of the prison and reintegration leave.
In response, the state government agreed in principle to develop and provide more voluntary programs at the facility, create a life skills instructor position, review payment for people in prison who are working and provide a transparent and streamlined approval process for home leave.
Boronia is a minimum-security prison for women, aiming to help them reintegrate into society. The inspection report described it as a “high-quality facility providing women with important self-improvement opportunities in the lead-up to their release”.
The NSW Government handed down its 2025-26 Budget in late June, with a focus on rebuilding the child protection sector and extra funds for Corrective Services.
The centrepiece of the Budget was a $1.2 billion child protection package, including a 20 per cent increase to the Foster Carer Allowance and $1 billion to rebuild the out-of-home care system.
The Budget also allocated an extra $100.5 million to Corrective Services NSW to ensure it is “resourced to supervise offenders” and $5.5 million for early intervention and diversion programs for young people in contact with the criminal justice system.
A program improving access to identity cards for First Nations people leaving prison in NSW will also be provided $1.8 million.
A program aiming to ensure First Nations men have a strong support network upon release from prison has been recognised as successful in its first 12 months.
Launched by the Nowra Community Corrections Office, the Staying on Track framework has been used to support 123 Aboriginal men in the last 12 months and has seen a decrease in the number of breaches of community correction orders due to non-compliance with supervision.
The program is currently open to First Nations men incarcerated at South Coast Correctional Centre who will be released on a supervision order.
The framework sees men provided with targeted support, which includes program staff connecting with them 12 months before their release date to talk about the steps involved.
These steps include family conferencing, connection with Elders and community, engagement with an Aboriginal Community Engagement and Culture Officer and support services such as mental health and employment agencies.
People who share content online about committing serious crimes will face an additional two years in jail as the state government announces a crackdown on so-called “posting and boasting”.
Under new legislation that the Victorian Government introduced to Parliament in mid-June, anyone found guilty of a specified serious crime who has also posted about it on social media or a messaging app will face an additional two years imprisonment.
The crimes covered by the legislation include affray, burglary and robbery, car theft, carjacking, home invasions and violent disorder.
The state government said the legislation is needed to respond to a trend of people “chasing clout” by posting about crimes on apps such as TikTok and SnapChat, which it says “encourages copycat offending, retraumatises victims and deeply disturbs the community”.
Posting about a crime online can currently be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing, but the new law will see more prison time imposed.
The law will not apply to third parties such as witnesses, bystanders or journalists.
Victoria’s first fixed pill-testing site will open this month in Fitzroy for an initial 12-month trial.
To be located at 95 Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, the facility will be able to test most pills, capsules, powders, crystals and liquids and will operate from Thursday to Saturday.
The pill-testing site will provide confidential and non-judgemental harm reduction advice from health professionals, and the service will be able to detect highly dangerous synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes, which can be mixed with other drugs.
The site will be operated by Youth Support and Advocacy Services, The Loop Australia and Harm Reduction Victoria and will partner with Melbourne Health, Youth Projects
and Metabolomics Australia.
It comes after a trial of mobile pill testing was run at five music festivals over the last summer.
These sites tested almost 1,400 drug samples, with 11 per cent of these samples returning results that included unexpected substances.
The ACT has become the first Australian jurisdiction to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years old.
This means that children aged under 14 will be provided with support and services to help address the causes of their offending, rather than being charged.
The age of criminal responsibility in the ACT was raised to 12 in late 2023.
There will be exceptions to this for serious crimes such as murder, intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm and specific sexual offences.
The move has been welcomed by advocates and experts, including National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds.
“Criminalising young children really does no-one any good,” Hollonds said. “It doesn’t help the children – in fact, it harms the children – but also it doesn’t keep communities any safer.”
While the ACT has raised the age, a number of other Australian states and territories are either lowering the age or going back on plans to increase it.
The Northern Territory recently lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10, while the Victorian government has ditched plans to raise the age to 14.
An independent prison inspector has urged the Western Australian Government to provide limited internet access to people in prison undertaking university studies.
In a review of the Boronia Pre-Release Centre for Women, Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan found that a lack of internet access was hampering the ability of those in the centre to complete educational programs.
“We heard that access to education and self-improvement courses were often hampered by limited or no access to online education resources and materials,” Ryan said.
Two people at Boronia have received laptops from the University of Southern Queensland with pre-loaded content, but they are unable to access extra online educational materials, conduct research and engage in interactive learning activities.
“With such technology not readily available in prisons, this significantly impacts full participation and student completion rates,” Ryan said.
The Inspector recommended that the state government look at options to introduce “controlled, secure internet access to tertiary students in prison”, but this was not supported.
The inspection report also found there were long delays in gaining approval for external activities such as employment, work outside of the prison and reintegration leave.
In response, the state government agreed in principle to develop and provide more voluntary programs at the facility, create a life skills instructor position, review payment for people in prison who are working and provide a transparent and streamlined approval process for home leave.
Boronia is a minimum-security prison for women, aiming to help them reintegrate into society. The inspection report described it as a “high-quality facility providing women with important self-improvement opportunities in the lead-up to their release”.
The NSW Government handed down its 2025-26 Budget in late June, with a focus on rebuilding the child protection sector and extra funds for Corrective Services.
The centrepiece of the Budget was a $1.2 billion child protection package, including a 20 per cent increase to the Foster Carer Allowance and $1 billion to rebuild the out-of-home care system.
The Budget also allocated an extra $100.5 million to Corrective Services NSW to ensure it is “resourced to supervise offenders” and $5.5 million for early intervention and diversion programs for young people in contact with the criminal justice system.
A program improving access to identity cards for First Nations people leaving prison in NSW will also be provided $1.8 million.
A program aiming to ensure First Nations men have a strong support network upon release from prison has been recognised as successful in its first 12 months.
Launched by the Nowra Community Corrections Office, the Staying on Track framework has been used to support 123 Aboriginal men in the last 12 months and has seen a decrease in the number of breaches of community correction orders due to non-compliance with supervision.
The program is currently open to First Nations men incarcerated at South Coast Correctional Centre who will be released on a supervision order.
The framework sees men provided with targeted support, which includes program staff connecting with them 12 months before their release date to talk about the steps involved.
These steps include family conferencing, connection with Elders and community, engagement with an Aboriginal Community Engagement and Culture Officer and support services such as mental health and employment agencies.
Last month, people in prison in Tasmania were able to vote in the state election for the first time in more than a decade.
After a trial during Legislative Council elections last year, mobile polling stations were allowed into prisons around the state for the House of Assembly election on 19 July.
Tasmanian Custodial Inspector Richard Connock praised the work of Tasmania Prison Service and Tasmanian Electoral Commission and said it was a “great step forward” in enabling the democratic rights of people in prison.
“Democracy is about public participation,” Connock said. “Being able to vote on who governs us and proposed changes to the Australian Constitution are core features of that participation.”
Those serving a sentence of three years or more were still unable to vote in the Tasmanian state election.
A man held in isolation at Yalata Labour Prison for more than 800 days has reportedly chewed off his own finger.
Media reporting in July quoted a number of people who said the man was so distressed that he had gnawed off his own finger.
They said he had been suffering greatly in G Division at the prison, where he is kept confined to his cell for 23 hours a day, with no access to entertainment.
He has also been blocked from seeing Aboriginal Elder Uncle Moogy Sumner, who had been visiting him, and Aboriginal Liaison Officer Melanie Turner.
In response to questions from the media, the Department for Correctional Services said that it “appreciates the important role Elders and Aboriginal visitors play in supporting Aboriginal prisoners”.
An exhibition featuring artwork by people in prison in South Australia has opened in Adelaide.
Artists on the Inside will be on display at UniSA’s Kerry Packer Civic Gallery until 29 August.
The exhibition includes artwork created by men and women in prison in the state and those with lived experience of the criminal justice system.
It will also be the first chance for some of these artists to sell their work.
Those visiting the gallery will be able to vote for their favourite artwork as part of the People’s Choice Award and leave a comment that will be shared with the artist.
This year’s version of the show will place a greater emphasis on creativity, culture and the celebration of visual arts highlighting the diversity of living artists.
The death of 19-year-old Warlpiri and Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu in 2019 was “avoidable” and the police officer who shot and killed him was “racist”, a Northern Territory coroner has found.
After a three-year inquest, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage released her findings in early July.
Walker was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe. The Coroner found this was a case of “officer-induced jeopardy”, which means the officer needlessly put themselves in danger.
“Mr Rolfe was racist, and he worked in and benefited from an organisation with the hallmarks of institutional racism,” the Coroner said.
Rolfe was found not guilty of charges of murder and manslaughter in early 2022.
The family of Kumanjayi White, who died after being restrained by police at an Alice Springs supermarket, have called on the federal government to “step in” and sort out the “justice crisis” in the Northern Territory.
White’s grandfather and respected Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves in an open letter urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “match your fine words with action”.
“This madness must stop,” Hargraves said in the letter. “You must step in now.”
He also called for an independent investigation into White’s death, the release of CCTV footage and for the police officers involved to be stood down while an investigation is conducted.
An independent investigation has been ruled out by the NT Government and the NT Police Force.
The Queensland Government is readying to open a large new prison near Gatton and has provided additional funding to a number of rehabilitation programs.
The Queensland Budget, handed down in late July, included funding to open the Lockyer Valley Correctional Centre, a new 1,536 bed maximum-security men’s prison near Gatton and increase capacity at other centres.
The state budget also provided support for a number of prison diversion and rehabilitation programs for youth.
This includes the Staying on Track program, which provides intensive rehabilitation for 12 months after a period of detention.
The program starts with six months of intensive support for young people returning to the community and is designed to work with supervision orders.
The budget also funded the Circuit Breaker Sentencing programs, which the state government said would provide rehabilitation programs running for three to six months for youth offenders.
This will take place in two small facilities, with combined room for 60 people, and include wraparound social and health services.
The Queensland Government is planning to open “Youth Justice Schools” where teenagers on youth justice orders will attend and receive specialised behavioural programs and individual case management five days a week.
The state budget also provided extra funding for the legal assistance sector.
On Friday 20 June 2025, the new Queensland Government announced that a new independent review will be conducted into Parole Board Queensland.
There have been two previous reviews into Parole Board Queensland since it commenced operations in 2017.
The new review, which will be led by barrister Mr Peter Hastie KC, will focus on ways to “improve the operations and conduct of the Board”, with the two primary objectives of the review being to “consider the impact on victims of crime” and “assess the Parole Board’s practices and procedures”.
In the Terms of Reference for the review, the Queensland Government announced that the review will focus on:
The Terms of Reference state that the review is expected to deliver a final report to the Minister for Corrective Services within 90 days of commencement.
Last month, people in prison in Tasmania were able to vote in the state election for the first time in more than a decade.
After a trial during Legislative Council elections last year, mobile polling stations were allowed into prisons around the state for the House of Assembly election on 19 July.
Tasmanian Custodial Inspector Richard Connock praised the work of Tasmania Prison Service and Tasmanian Electoral Commission and said it was a “great step forward” in enabling the democratic rights of people in prison.
“Democracy is about public participation,” Connock said. “Being able to vote on who governs us and proposed changes to the Australian Constitution are core features of that participation.”
Those serving a sentence of three years or more were still unable to vote in the Tasmanian state election.
A man held in isolation at Yalata Labour Prison for more than 800 days has reportedly chewed off his own finger.
Media reporting in July quoted a number of people who said the man was so distressed that he had gnawed off his own finger.
They said he had been suffering greatly in G Division at the prison, where he is kept confined to his cell for 23 hours a day, with no access to entertainment.
He has also been blocked from seeing Aboriginal Elder Uncle Moogy Sumner, who had been visiting him, and Aboriginal Liaison Officer Melanie Turner.
In response to questions from the media, the Department for Correctional Services said that it “appreciates the important role Elders and Aboriginal visitors play in supporting Aboriginal prisoners”.
An exhibition featuring artwork by people in prison in South Australia has opened in Adelaide.
Artists on the Inside will be on display at UniSA’s Kerry Packer Civic Gallery until 29 August.
The exhibition includes artwork created by men and women in prison in the state and those with lived experience of the criminal justice system.
It will also be the first chance for some of these artists to sell their work.
Those visiting the gallery will be able to vote for their favourite artwork as part of the People’s Choice Award and leave a comment that will be shared with the artist.
This year’s version of the show will place a greater emphasis on creativity, culture and the celebration of visual arts highlighting the diversity of living artists.
The death of 19-year-old Warlpiri and Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu in 2019 was “avoidable” and the police officer who shot and killed him was “racist”, a Northern Territory coroner has found.
After a three-year inquest, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage released her findings in early July.
Walker was fatally shot by then NT police officer Zachary Rolfe. The Coroner found this was a case of “officer-induced jeopardy”, which means the officer needlessly put themselves in danger.
“Mr Rolfe was racist, and he worked in and benefited from an organisation with the hallmarks of institutional racism,” the Coroner said.
Rolfe was found not guilty of charges of murder and manslaughter in early 2022.
The family of Kumanjayi White, who died after being restrained by police at an Alice Springs supermarket, have called on the federal government to “step in” and sort out the “justice crisis” in the Northern Territory.
White’s grandfather and respected Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves in an open letter urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “match your fine words with action”.
“This madness must stop,” Hargraves said in the letter. “You must step in now.”
He also called for an independent investigation into White’s death, the release of CCTV footage and for the police officers involved to be stood down while an investigation is conducted.
An independent investigation has been ruled out by the NT Government and the NT Police Force.
The Queensland Government is readying to open a large new prison near Gatton and has provided additional funding to a number of rehabilitation programs.
The Queensland Budget, handed down in late July, included funding to open the Lockyer Valley Correctional Centre, a new 1,536 bed maximum-security men’s prison near Gatton and increase capacity at other centres.
The state budget also provided support for a number of prison diversion and rehabilitation programs for youth.
This includes the Staying on Track program, which provides intensive rehabilitation for 12 months after a period of detention.
The program starts with six months of intensive support for young people returning to the community and is designed to work with supervision orders.
The budget also funded the Circuit Breaker Sentencing programs, which the state government said would provide rehabilitation programs running for three to six months for youth offenders.
This will take place in two small facilities, with combined room for 60 people, and include wraparound social and health services.
The Queensland Government is planning to open “Youth Justice Schools” where teenagers on youth justice orders will attend and receive specialised behavioural programs and individual case management five days a week.
The state budget also provided extra funding for the legal assistance sector.
On Friday 20 June 2025, the new Queensland Government announced that a new independent review will be conducted into Parole Board Queensland.
There have been two previous reviews into Parole Board Queensland since it commenced operations in 2017.
The new review, which will be led by barrister Mr Peter Hastie KC, will focus on ways to “improve the operations and conduct of the Board”, with the two primary objectives of the review being to “consider the impact on victims of crime” and “assess the Parole Board’s practices and procedures”.
In the Terms of Reference for the review, the Queensland Government announced that the review will focus on:
The Terms of Reference state that the review is expected to deliver a final report to the Minister for Corrective Services within 90 days of commencement.
This information was provided by Prisoners’ Legal Service, Queensland. It is information only and should not be relied on as legal advice.
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.
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