Around the Country – May 2026
Including funding for more prisons in the NT, families protesting outside Risdon prison in TAS, a man being returned to prison in NSW after being mistakenly released and more.
Each edition contains news articles and investigative pieces. These are topical stories that are usually about prisons and criminal justice.
We also summarise the latest criminal justice news around the country.

Including funding for more prisons in the NT, families protesting outside Risdon prison in TAS, a man being returned to prison in NSW after being mistakenly released and more.
In April 2025, The Alternative First Responder campaign officially launched in Australia, calling for alternative first responses to police that centre care and dignity.
A judge in Victoria has ruled that a lack of stable housing in the community shouldn’t be used as a reason to deny someone bail, particularly when it involves a First Nations person.
Staff at a Canberra prison pepper sprayed a First Nations inmate who was self-harming and then handcuffed and strip searched her, an investigation has found.
New informal voting data reveals there is still a long way to go to ensure the prison population is provided with proper information and education.
Nearly one in three people incarcerated in Queensland are eligible for parole but yet to be released, a new report has found.
A support service transporting First Nations people from prison to treatment facilities will shut down after it ran out of funding.
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.

The latest in criminal justice around the country, including prison overcrowding in WA, government stalls on gambling reforms, new reforms strengthening laws against strangulation and more.

The journey back to employment for women with a criminal record can be challenging but also transformative. It requires a comprehensive approach that addresses immediate needs, builds skills, provides support, creates valuable employment opportunities and tackles systemic barriers.

The Untold Stories of Injustice is a five-part radio series that features a collection of interviews, discussions and events highlighting the experiences of folks who have been incarcerated in so-called Victoria, Australia.

Prison pen-pal programs have been found to improve the health and wellbeing of those in prison, and their rehabilitation, thanks to improved connections with
the general community.

The latest in criminal justice around the country, including a calling for reform on Youth Justice, the age of criminal responsibility being reduced to 10 in the NT and a potential end to strip searches for women in QLD prisons.

Racial profiling is a concern for policing across the country.

Several states are looking to improve access to technologies in prison cells, with some also to provide limited access to the internet and email.

The latest in criminal justice around the country, including Queensland Police Officers facing charges after a watchhouse incident, formerly incarcerated women calling for the end of strip searches in prisons and domestic violence law reforms in NSW.

Following a number of complaints from inmates, the NSW Ombudsman investigated Serco’s response to an assault at Clarence Correctional Centre.


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