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.
The “exorbitant” cost of making a call from a prison in Australia has been criticised by human and civil rights groups, legal organisations, parliamentary inquiries and those with direct experience of the situation.
The high cost of these calls – far higher than what it costs to make a phone call in the wider community – is hampering efforts by those in prison to maintain connections with family and friends on the outside, and placing further financial strain on those with an incarcerated loved one.
Numerous recent inquiries have recommended that all calls from prisons be made free, or at the very least, far cheaper than they are now.
Prisoner rights activist Joanna Scriven runs New Directionz, a charity providing support and assistance to those leaving prison in NSW. She regularly contacts people in prison and sees the impact that expensive calls are having – both on the inside and out.
“It’s critical to have outside contact yet they make it so expensive for families,” Scriven told About Time. “It’s feeding the poverty cycle. There are people that can get money put in their account and people who can’t. If you don’t get phone calls and you don’t have the money, you just have to languish in your cell.”
The price of making a phone call from prison in Australia varies widely around the country, but across the board, it is far higher than in the general community.
In Victoria, it costs about 57 cents per minute to call a mobile phone from a public prison, or $7 for the maximum 12-minute phone call. Those working in prisons in the state earn between $3.55 and $9.60 per day, meaning those on the lowest wage would need to work two full days to be able to afford the 12-minute phone call.
Calls are cheaper in New South Wales prisons, where it costs about 24 cents per minute, and are cheapest in Western Australia, where it is 10 cents per minute.
In the ACT, it costs 50 cents per minute, and in the Northern Territory it is 40 cents per minute.
These rates are comparable to what a household in the general community would have paid for phone calls about two decades ago.
In Victoria, VACRO has been campaigning for free prison phone calls for several years, after its participants began raising concerns about the high costs.
“Unless people have got family or loved ones on the outside who are able to put money in their account, then they have to choose between phone calls and other things in buy-up,” VACRO senior policy and advocacy advisor Abigail Lewis told About Time.
“We were contacted by incarcerated people who were organising with their loved ones to talk to each other about how to afford phone calls and how to get the message out about how damaging it is that phone calls are so expensive.
“The reason I’m fighting really hard for this is because of what we hear from people who are incarcerated themselves, and their loved ones. We’d really encourage everyone who is currently in prison to keep speaking out. People are listening on the outside and advocacy on the inside is driving change in community attitudes and in policy.”
A number of people currently incarcerated have also raised concerns about the quality of phone calls, with many reporting that poor connection lines have left them unable to conduct a conversation. Despite these issues, the full cost for these phone calls is still imposed.
One person currently inside described the call quality as like using an “old tin and string phone”, while another said that an echo is so bad that they can’t hear anything on the other side.
Scriven says providing money to a loved one in prison so they can communicate with the outside world is placing pressure on people in the community, and is another reason why these calls should be free.
“They really can’t afford it,” she said. “They can put money in for them but the pressure is then on them. Then they can’t afford to feed themselves – they go without. It puts unseen stress on you.”
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.
The “exorbitant” cost of making a call from a prison in Australia has been criticised by human and civil rights groups, legal organisations, parliamentary inquiries and those with direct experience of the situation.
The high cost of these calls – far higher than what it costs to make a phone call in the wider community – is hampering efforts by those in prison to maintain connections with family and friends on the outside, and placing further financial strain on those with an incarcerated loved one.
Numerous recent inquiries have recommended that all calls from prisons be made free, or at the very least, far cheaper than they are now.
Prisoner rights activist Joanna Scriven runs New Directionz, a charity providing support and assistance to those leaving prison in NSW. She regularly contacts people in prison and sees the impact that expensive calls are having – both on the inside and out.
“It’s critical to have outside contact yet they make it so expensive for families,” Scriven told About Time. “It’s feeding the poverty cycle. There are people that can get money put in their account and people who can’t. If you don’t get phone calls and you don’t have the money, you just have to languish in your cell.”
The price of making a phone call from prison in Australia varies widely around the country, but across the board, it is far higher than in the general community.
In Victoria, it costs about 57 cents per minute to call a mobile phone from a public prison, or $7 for the maximum 12-minute phone call. Those working in prisons in the state earn between $3.55 and $9.60 per day, meaning those on the lowest wage would need to work two full days to be able to afford the 12-minute phone call.
Calls are cheaper in New South Wales prisons, where it costs about 24 cents per minute, and are cheapest in Western Australia, where it is 10 cents per minute.
In the ACT, it costs 50 cents per minute, and in the Northern Territory it is 40 cents per minute.
These rates are comparable to what a household in the general community would have paid for phone calls about two decades ago.
In Victoria, VACRO has been campaigning for free prison phone calls for several years, after its participants began raising concerns about the high costs.
“Unless people have got family or loved ones on the outside who are able to put money in their account, then they have to choose between phone calls and other things in buy-up,” VACRO senior policy and advocacy advisor Abigail Lewis told About Time.
“We were contacted by incarcerated people who were organising with their loved ones to talk to each other about how to afford phone calls and how to get the message out about how damaging it is that phone calls are so expensive.
“The reason I’m fighting really hard for this is because of what we hear from people who are incarcerated themselves, and their loved ones. We’d really encourage everyone who is currently in prison to keep speaking out. People are listening on the outside and advocacy on the inside is driving change in community attitudes and in policy.”
A number of people currently incarcerated have also raised concerns about the quality of phone calls, with many reporting that poor connection lines have left them unable to conduct a conversation. Despite these issues, the full cost for these phone calls is still imposed.
One person currently inside described the call quality as like using an “old tin and string phone”, while another said that an echo is so bad that they can’t hear anything on the other side.
Scriven says providing money to a loved one in prison so they can communicate with the outside world is placing pressure on people in the community, and is another reason why these calls should be free.
“They really can’t afford it,” she said. “They can put money in for them but the pressure is then on them. Then they can’t afford to feed themselves – they go without. It puts unseen stress on you.”
There is some movement on the issue from Australian politicians.
The Victorian state government has pledged to push for cheaper phone calls as part of negotiations over a new contract with a private company to provide these calls next year.
Phone calls in Victorian prisons are provided by private company Comsec TR on a six-year contract worth $26 million. This contract comes to an end mid-next year, with the state government to negotiate a new deal with that company or select another to coordinate the prison phone system.
Victorian Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan has committed to investigating the cost of prison phone calls, and said the hunt for a new provider will provide an opportunity to reduce these costs.
The NSW Greens have launched a petition pushing for free and secure calls for those in prison by the end of the year. “It’s an unacceptable cost imposed upon people who, too often, come from families who are already making the impossible choice between keeping food on the table and gifts for the people they love,” the petition said.
“We know that meaningful connection during a prison sentence makes reoffending less likely, because nobody can get their life back on track without the love and support of family and community. Access to free and secure calls will improve and literally save lives.”
A number of studies, reports and inquiries have also added to the growing call for phone calls to be made cheaper.
In Victoria, a cultural review of the prison system criticised the “prohibitive costs” of prison phone calls. “The combination of very low daily wages for employment within the custodial environment means that people in custody may not be able to remain in contact with family and community,” the Cultural Review of the Adult Custodial Corrections System said.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission recommended in an interim report last year that First Nations people in prison be allowed to “make telephone calls for free or at no greater cost than the general community”.
Led by VACRO, a number of advocacy, human rights and legal groups wrote an open letter calling for more affordable phone calls. “These costs create an unacceptably high barrier to contact between people in prison and their families, including children, and damage people’s prospects for successful reintegration into their community post-release,” the letter said.
The Australian campaign has been buoyed by progress on the issue in the United States, where a number of states have moved to make prison phone calls free or significantly cheaper.
The US Federal Communications Commission recently reduced the price of a phone call from a prison from about $17 ($US11.35) for 15 minutes to as low as $1.30 (US90c) for the same time. US Congress last year passed legislation giving the Commission power to reduce these costs, with the new rates imposed to help address the “unconscionable rates families of the incarcerated pay for communications”.
This means that a phone call from a Victorian prison will be about five times more expensive than one from many prisons in the US, and three minutes shorter.
There is some movement on the issue from Australian politicians.
The Victorian state government has pledged to push for cheaper phone calls as part of negotiations over a new contract with a private company to provide these calls next year.
Phone calls in Victorian prisons are provided by private company Comsec TR on a six-year contract worth $26 million. This contract comes to an end mid-next year, with the state government to negotiate a new deal with that company or select another to coordinate the prison phone system.
Victorian Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan has committed to investigating the cost of prison phone calls, and said the hunt for a new provider will provide an opportunity to reduce these costs.
The NSW Greens have launched a petition pushing for free and secure calls for those in prison by the end of the year. “It’s an unacceptable cost imposed upon people who, too often, come from families who are already making the impossible choice between keeping food on the table and gifts for the people they love,” the petition said.
“We know that meaningful connection during a prison sentence makes reoffending less likely, because nobody can get their life back on track without the love and support of family and community. Access to free and secure calls will improve and literally save lives.”
A number of studies, reports and inquiries have also added to the growing call for phone calls to be made cheaper.
In Victoria, a cultural review of the prison system criticised the “prohibitive costs” of prison phone calls. “The combination of very low daily wages for employment within the custodial environment means that people in custody may not be able to remain in contact with family and community,” the Cultural Review of the Adult Custodial Corrections System said.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission recommended in an interim report last year that First Nations people in prison be allowed to “make telephone calls for free or at no greater cost than the general community”.
Led by VACRO, a number of advocacy, human rights and legal groups wrote an open letter calling for more affordable phone calls. “These costs create an unacceptably high barrier to contact between people in prison and their families, including children, and damage people’s prospects for successful reintegration into their community post-release,” the letter said.
The Australian campaign has been buoyed by progress on the issue in the United States, where a number of states have moved to make prison phone calls free or significantly cheaper.
The US Federal Communications Commission recently reduced the price of a phone call from a prison from about $17 ($US11.35) for 15 minutes to as low as $1.30 (US90c) for the same time. US Congress last year passed legislation giving the Commission power to reduce these costs, with the new rates imposed to help address the “unconscionable rates families of the incarcerated pay for communications”.
This means that a phone call from a Victorian prison will be about five times more expensive than one from many prisons in the US, and three minutes shorter.
