Port Phillip to Close as Australia Turns Away From Private Prisons
Port Phillip Prison will close at the end of next year as part of a growing move away from privately run prisons in Australia.
ISSUE NO. 2
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8 MIN READ
Ike Curtis
Donate Here
Mum's story
A mother writes about her son being locked up
Letters
On Remand? Check this guide
How to manage this incredibly difficult time
Experiences
'Freedm is not a box'
Poetry about family and imprisonment
Creative
How to stay resilient
Managing mental health in prison
Health
By Michelle
As a mother all I want to do is bring him (my son) home and tell him everything will be ok. I miss him every minute of every day.
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2 MIN READ
By Dave
I am a prisoner at a medium security prison in Victoria. I’ve decided to write about my experiences of learning an instrument while incarcerated.
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4 MIN READ
By Nathan
I am a prisoner in Victoria and I am 11 years into a 20 year sentence for murder. I sit in my cell and relive what I did every day.
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4 MIN READ
Anonymous
Being in prison can leave you feeling hopeless, demoralised and, at times, lacking in self-belief. I know this from first-hand experience as I have been on an emotional rollercoaster, searching for something positive to give me hope, focus and a true sense of purpose.
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3 MIN READ
By David
It is About Time incarcerated people are given the encouragement to share the truth of their experiences. Your paper will make this possible despite the obstacles you do, and will, face.
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2 MIN READ
The History of Australian Prison Publications
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.
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8 MIN READ
Contact (No. 25, June 1977)
Around the Country – July 2024
By Joseph Friedman
The latest criminal news from around the country, including a boost in investment to the criminal justice system, criticism around new footage of treatment of children in custody and an inquest into the death of Justin James Cordy.
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20 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy
Moving On
When I was arrested, I had a job, a family, friends. When they sent me to jail, I lost it all. Because that’s the true punishment. You lose your life. You break the law, so you are destroyed.
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8 MIN READ
Guide for Those on Remand
By J.J.A.L.
Remand. Difficult times. Difficult times!!! Being on remand, in my opinion, is one of the most trying and testing parts of being in jail.
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7 MIN READ
Mirrors on the Inside
By Sam Harris
One of the things I noticed as I entered my grimy first cell in jail was that there were no glass mirrors on the walls. I quickly found out that glass mirrors are banned in jail; no doubt because glass can be easily smashed, shattered and used as a weapon.
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6 MIN READ
Boxing Yard (Blood, Sweat & Tears)' by Koko, $400, 5343, 90cm x 62cm, acrylic on canvas, available for purchase at Boom Gate Gallery
From Prison to the Outside: Dealing With the Loneliness
Feeling isolated and lonely is very common after you’ve left prison. In prison you didn’t expect to open up to people and enjoy their company. Now you’re outside, it takes time to relax and be friendly to people.
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10 MIN READ
Matthew Brodeur
How to Stay Resilient and Manage Mental Health in Prison
Today I sit down with Jacob Little to have a yarn and share some knowledge about resilience and how he managed his mental health in prison.
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12 MIN READ
Side Plank Training
By L J Flanders, from the book Cell Workout
Where the Plank focused mainly on the abdominals, the Side Plank focuses on the obliques (the muscles that are located on the sides of the midsection of the abdomen). Training this muscle will strengthen the core and also plays an important role in averting back pain.
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6 MIN READ
Back on Track
By The Prison Phoenix Trust
Back pain can be miserable. Most of us experience it at some stage, because of injury, a bad mattress or just bad luck. This routine will help release and realign the back, helping you to feel better.
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4 MIN READ
What You Need to Know About OPCAT
When people are imprisoned, they lose their freedom, but they do not lose all of their human rights. International human rights law makes this very clear.
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9 MIN READ
Mathias Reding
How to Complain to the Ombudsman
The Ombudsman is an independent organisation that oversees complaints against government decisions and actions. Each state/territory has their own Ombudsman. The Ombudsman responds to a complaint by investigating from both sides what has happened and why.
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8 MIN READ
Gabrielle Henderson
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Legal Q&A
Do you have a general legal query that you want answered?
Is there an area of law that you think people inside should know more about? Submit your question in the provided form, and we might publish an answer in the paper.
Submit Your Question
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Mob
Artwork from The Torch – Issue No. 2
This represents a mother's journey of childbirth and the creation of her young through the pain endured throughout her and her children's journey.
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2 MIN READ
Roxann (Yorta Yorta/Gunaikurnai) ‘Birthing Journey’ 2024, acrylic on canvas
The Right to Self-Determination
Information provided by the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
While the right to self-determination remains undefined under international law, it can best be described as the right of a ‘people’ to collectively exercise control over, and make decisions regarding, matters that affect them. It is the right of a 'people' to determine their destiny.
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5 MIN READ
Brodie J (Palawa) ‘My Future’ 2023, acrylic on canvas
A New System for Making Calls to the ALS From Prison
By the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT)
In March 2024, the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT (‘ALS’) launched a new system for handling phone calls from prisons. This system is designed to provide help faster and more smoothly.
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2 MIN READ
Eco-cow
The two men popped open the Tesla's doors, thump thomp, and stepped out into a blooming orchard. The air was a herbal tea. Honey bees bobbed between the peach pink flowers.
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3 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
Anonymous
You were never there to tuck me into bed. No, you were never there at night when I was scared. Mama, where were you when I needed you most. Mama tell me why all alone I had to cope.
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2 MIN READ
By Taylor
Freedom has been likened to a bird, a plane, a song, it has been once personified as a road that’s very long. Freedom has been likened to people: from war, death, or insanity, to others it is being absolved from rules for eternity.
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2 MIN READ
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Discover as many words as possible. A word can only be formed if each letter is side-by-side, above or below, or on the diagonal with the next.
From Inside Time.
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