ISSUE NO. 26
September 2026
ISSUE NO. 26
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Sections
September 2026

News and Investigations

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.

Latest

Fatherhood in Prisons: Lessons From Around the World

By Denham Sadler

There are groundbreaking programs around the world aiming to help fathers behind bars.

ISSUE NO. 26
2 MIN READ
'Glen Innes Church' by Tony, $400, #6136, 60cm x 45cm, acrylic on canvas – Boom Gate Gallery

Paramedics Not Police to Attend Some Mental Health Crises in NSW

By Denham Sadler and Edith McLellan

The NSW government has detailed a new statewide mental health emergency response model centred on paramedics responding to people who are in crisis in some cases, instead of police.

ISSUE NO. 26
2 MIN READ
Highway Patrol Images via Flickr

Around the Country – August 2026

By About Time

Including prison policy changes being tracked online in the ACT, concerns in the NT over a lack of a forensic mental health unit, new gym equipment coming to Western Plains in VIC and more.

ISSUE NO. 26
5 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy

Inspector's Corner

By About Time

Including a man being unlawfully kept in prison for months after his release date in SA, the findings from the Capricornia Inspection in QLD, upcoming inspections in WA and more.

ISSUE NO. 26
5 MIN READ
Ethan Cassidy

Online news

ONLINE NEWS

Victoria Ends the Criminalisation of Begging

By Denham Sadler

After decades of campaigning, the state will scrap an offence punishable by up to a year in prison, shifting the response to poverty and homelessness away from policing.

September 16, 2026
2 MIN READ
Willy Pleasance

Archive

ISSUE NO. 23
June 2026

Around the Country – May 2026

By About Time

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.

4 MIN READ
BREAKING
June 2, 2026

Adelaide Remand Centre to Stay in Private Hands

By Denham Sadler

The Adelaide Remand Centre will remain a privately-run prison after the South Australian government brushed aside criticisms to renew the contract with Serco for five years.

2 MIN READ
BREAKING
July 31, 2026

Victoria Pours $229m Into New Prison Beds

By Denham Sadler

The Victorian government will spend $229 million on new prison beds, five times what it has allocated to programs aiming to keep people out of them.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 22
May 2026

New Civil Law Service for Women in NSW Prisons

By Rosie Heselev

The Women’s Advocacy Service is a partnership between Legal Aid NSW and the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), providing face-to-face appointments with both a lawyer and a social worker.

2 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 22
May 2026

Australia’s Oldest Prison Vegetable Garden?

By Hayley McKee

The men at Fremantle Prison learnt how to grow fresh food by planting concentrated rows of sturdy cabbage, corn, carrots, spring onions and other edible plants that could withstand the harsh WA sun. At its peak, the garden supplied the prison kitchen with more than 10,000 kilograms of fruit and vegetables each year.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 22
May 2026

We Need You: Maximum Security Unit Review Consultation

By Prisoners' Legal Service Queensland

The Inspector of Detention Services Queensland is undertaking a review of Maximum Security Units (MSUs) at Arthur Gorrie, Brisbane and Woodford Correctional Centres.

3 MIN READ
ISSUE NO. 22
May 2026

Around the Country – April 2026

By Joseph Friedman

Including the prison population growing in the ACT, a drug bust during a prison visit in Victoria, Hakea inmates suing state government in WA and more.

5 MIN READ

Welcome to About Time

About Time is the national newspaper for Australian prisons and detention facilities

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