In early December, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited Australia. Their purpose was to provide guidance on how international human rights standards apply to prisons and places of detention.

“It is our assessment that Victoria Police did not comply with the Surveillance Devices Act when installing and maintaining integrated listening devices,” the report said.

Under a state-wide policy, Victoria Police officers wake up those being held in watch houses overnight every hour to check on their welfare, either by having a torch light shone on them, speaking to them or asking them to move or stand up.

We put a call out for messages from loved ones of people in prison across the country, and more than 100 people responded. We hope these brighten your day.

Including smoking being banned in WA prisons, a death in custody at Mary Hutchinson in TAS, a painkiller trial hailed as a success in QLD and more.

Nothing warms my heart more than the selflessness of good people doing good deeds for our sisters and brothers in prison.

Every year in early December, a group of volunteers come together to pack a hamper for every woman in prison in Victoria.

The NSW Government has moved to make it easier to find incarcerated people guilty of a “prison offence”, against the advice of independent experts.

First Nations people and those of African descent are far more likely to be searched by Victoria Police and have force used against them, a new report by a community volunteer group has found.

A man on remand at a privately-run prison in Victoria was “punched in the face” by a supervisor and then blocked from accessing a medical appointment, the state Ombudsman has found.