Prisoners

• Ballads Behind Bars – music and hope in the NSW prison system

  10th Aug 2022

  ‘Gorgeous country ballads from Indigenous inmates in Broken Hill. Hardcore hip-hop from Western Sydney that would put so-called "gangster rappers" on the outside to shame. Beautiful harmonies by Islander women as they sing love songs to their children, their partners, their families. What is a song but a story? And everyone in gaol has a story to tell.’ So writes the ALA’s own Bow Campbell of his experience facilitating songwriting in correctional centres, in honour of International Prisoners' Justice Day.

• Government and courts urged to release prisoners and grant bail to minimise COVID-19 risk

  17th Aug 2021

  Government and courts are being urged to activate legislation passed in NSW last year to reduce the number of people in prison, following the impact of COVID-19 at both Bathurst Correctional Centre and Silverwater Jail in recent days.

• Death sentence for poverty? Why the over-representation of First Nations women prisoners matters during the pandemic

  27th May 2020

  ALA member and a leading advocate for the protection of criminalised women's human rights, Debbie Kilroy OAM, has had her own frightening encounter with the COVID-19 virus. Debbie is desperately worried about the threat to lives if there is an outbreak of the virus in an Australian women’s prison, particularly for over-represented First Nations women, many of whom have chronic health conditions. In this article, Debbie explains the key issues and provides a compelling list of immediate action priorities. 

• COVID-19 in detention centres & prisons: A potential human rights catastrophe

  24th Mar 2020

  Proposed NSW legislation that will allow for the early release of some prisoners is welcome, and similar legislation should be introduced in all other states and territories as a matter of urgency, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• Does ‘Never to be Released’ mean ‘life’?

  1st Aug 2019

  Tom Percy QC explores six questions arising from the sentencing of Anthony Harvey, the first person in WA ordered by a judge never to be eligible for parole.

• New sentencing laws in NSW

  6th Dec 2018

  Practical information for criminal lawyers and their clients.

• Self-Represented Prisoners left behind in the justice system?

  4th Mar 2016

  Prisoners are arguably one of the most disadvantaged groups in Australia (and the world). Little to no research has been conducted about the impact on prisoners who are also self-represented litigants (hereinafter referred to as ‘self-represented prisoners’) such as, the extent to which prisoners encounter difficulties in accessing justice while in prison, the impact on prisoners and the resolution of their legal problem, and what efforts, if any, are being made by different Corrective Services departments to facilitate better access to justice.