"It Opens Up a Whole New World”: Book Clubs in Prison
When a flyer was put up in the NSW Dillwynia Correctional Centre for a new book club last year, the program was filled in just three hours.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
5 MIN READ
Ike Curtis
Donate Here
You Are Worthy
Jessica on LGBTIQ+ solidarity in prison
Letters
Hanging with AC/DC
Simon's memories of jamming with the band
Experiences
Q&A: Drug Dependence
Why medication can be so hard to get
Health
Keeping the Fire Burning
An interview with Uncle Robbie Thorpe
Mob
An Impossible Choice
By Wendy
I pretty much have to pick and choose who I ring because it costs way too much money to ring each of my kids.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
Guille Pozzi on Unsplash
You Forget How to Love
By Dave
Now about jail and what it does to you inside: you learn to suppress your feelings and show your anger or bravado. But what happens then to you? You forget how to love.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
'Ocean Life' by Richard, #5512, 75cm x 60cm, acrylic on canvas, Boom Gate Gallery
By Wendy
I pretty much have to pick and choose who I ring because it costs way too much money to ring each of my kids.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
By Dave
Now about jail and what it does to you inside: you learn to suppress your feelings and show your anger or bravado. But what happens then to you? You forget how to love.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
By Ronan
Before anything I am a human being. As I’ve learnt, this is quite important to remember.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
By Rocket
I am nearly 72 years of age, and I have been in a prison or institution for all but eight or ten years of my life. So I would know a bit about Christmas lunch in the prison system.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
By Jack
A couple of months ago I began attending education here and found a program called “BK SB”, which brings students’ ability to manage English and maths up to scratch.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
By David
How many times have you heard these words?
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
By Jessica
I just read issue 5 November 2024. There was an article titled “Bodies in Cages: Trans Experiences in Prison”. Being a trans woman myself, I wanted to share my story of experience in custody.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
By Kerrin
Look at the bare roofs across our jails, put some solar panels on all of them and turn them all into power stations, effectively reducing power bills everywhere!
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
By D.
It’s my first time being inside. My anxiety, fear, depression and mental health are heightened with extra volume.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
The Future Shapers: Connecting Between the Divide
A program in Ballarat, Victoria is connecting regular community members with people in prison. The program, ‘The Future Shapers,’ conducts tours of local prisons and sit-down group interviews with inmates.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
5 MIN READ
Future Shapers participants, The Committee of Ballarat
Around the Country – January 2025
The latest in criminal justice around the country, including Grafton Gaol getting an upgrade that caters towards growing health needs, a new report on wellbeing within Tasmanian prisons, recent changes to parole laws in Queensland and more.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 – 3 MIN READ EACH
Ethan Cassidy
A Voice From Beyond the Fence
It was just another typical day in jail when word arrived. As soon as my name was called and the paper handed to me at morning muster, mixed feelings of surprise and anticipation began welling up inside.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
'Minimum Security?' by Tony, acrylic on canvas, Boom Gate Gallery
‘Parole Pending Housing’: An Impossibility
“Parole approved pending housing.” This is by far the worst sentence I have heard in prison.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
6 MIN READ
Sam Wallman, for Homes Not Prisons
Hanging Out With AC/DC
By Simon
It was the sweltering Sydney summer of '79 and AC/DC was the most potent new rock band on earth.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
6 MIN READ
Album cover for Highway To Hell, AC/DC, Albert Productions/Atlantic Records
We Are the Change
By Nina Storey
It was me that created the change, I did it all!! Not prison: prison hurt me, prison did not offer healing or reform my behaviour. Prison deployed its violence onto me that I am still working through today.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
5 MIN READ
Image provided by Flat Out FIGJAM program
Critical Thinking & the Art of Persuasion – Forceful Arguments
In this series, we showed that arguments are attempts to persuade people to act or believe something. The strongest arguments are sound arguments.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
6 MIN READ
Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
When Anger Hides the Truth
Anger can be a confusing emotion, especially when it doesn’t seem to fit the situation you are in.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
5 MIN READ
Image from The Gottman Institute
Medications for Drug Dependence: Why Can It Be So Hard?
It can be very hard to get medications for opioid dependence in prison and in the community. This article will try to explain why.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
7 MIN READ
Image from @cool_ridge600
Fried Rice
By Damien
First, part-cook the oriental fried rice, adding noodles toward the end, and set aside for the moment.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
Carbonara & Tuna Bake
By Peter
First, in a 1.8 litre tub, microwave the past and one or two spoons of margarine in an even mix of water and gaol milk. Simmer for up to eight or ten minutes until soft or springy. Stir frequently. When done, set the mixture to one side for the moment.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
Do You Have a Right to Legal Representation?
By Daniel Vansetten
If you believe your right to a fair trial has not been provided, you should seek advice from a lawyer.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
5 MIN READ
Gregory Peck, as Atticus Finch, is shown in a scene from the film ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
Travel While on Parole
By Prisoners' Legal Service (PLS)
A parole order will include general and specific conditions. These include getting approval from the relevant authority for any travel interstate, or overseas.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
•
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
Starting Fresh: A Journey to Reintegration and New Beginnings
For many of us, the idea of re-entering society after incarceration can feel like standing at a crossroad, unsure of which way to go.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
6 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance
•
Mob
Keeping the Fire Burning
About Time spoke to Uncle Robbie Thorpe, a First Nations activist and truth-teller, about his fight for sovereignty for Aboriginal people.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
7 MIN READ
Uncle Robbie Thorpe at Camp Sovereignty, picture by Storm Bloomfield
Artwork From The Torch – Issue No. 7
This goanna represents me and the dots represent the people in my life. The dots on the goanna are the loved ones in my life and the people who have had an impact and made a difference in my life.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
Juddy H (Gunditjmara) ‘Goanna’ 2024, Acrylic on canvas
Back to Black
By Vincent
‘Back to Black’ charts Amy's life from her teen years through to her success as a world famous musician and singer.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
Book Review: The Stoning by Peter Papathanasiou
By Alexander
The genre is crime fiction, set in the Australian outback, in rural, sometimes insular communities where everyone seems to know everyone else. This is set in the outback NSW town of Cobb where a woman, a local school teacher, has been stoned to death.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
3 MIN READ
Stair-Ways
Whether it's going up or down or just round and around I cannot figure it anymore.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
Charcoal, Acrylic on Paper, 2024
By Joshua
Alone in a world of darkness and pain. The world there outside, I don't see the rain. Is the sun shining brightly? I really don't know. There's no place to turn and nowhere to go.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
By Darren
Icy fingers clawed the nape of the old man’s neck as swirling wind whipped up dust and debris into Jack’s tired weathered face.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
By RM
I see the pain in your lost eyes, and see, all your life ends in cries.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ
By Rachel
My whispers every night never reached you it seems. Now I only see you in my vivid dreams.
ISSUE NO. 7
•
2 MIN READ