By Joseph Friedman
In July of this year, a group of passionate individuals and criminal justice organisations will launch an ambitious project: Australia’s first national prison newspaper. The paper will be called About Time.
This will be a paper for incarcerated people, by incarcerated people. It will provide a window into the concealed world of incarceration and a voice to the incarcerated. It will be a platform for education and news, expression and hope.
There are approximately 42,000 people in Australian prisons. A staggering 38% of those are pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners; in other words, people who have not been convicted, yet remain in prison (though presumed innocent) because of Australia’s harsh bail laws. Of the 30,000 or so who have been convicted, most will leave within three years, and almost all will return to the outside world before they die.
These people must be treated with humanity. Under Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the essential aim of treatment of incarcerated people in prisons is reformation and social rehabilitation. Punishment, deterrence, community protection and denunciation are all essential purposes of sentencing, but it is rehabilitation — to make one’s second chance a success — that takes precedence.
How do we effectively rehabilitate convicted felons? How do we help them leave with a stronger moral framework, with a purpose that drives them to positive acts?
In conversations with currently and formerly incarcerated people, and in focus groups we ran in the lead up to launching this newspaper, one common theme we heard was that people in prison need something to do. They have so much time every day, and so little to do. They are pent up, frustrated, incredibly bored.
Our newspaper seeks to alleviate that problem, at least to some extent. People incarcerated in Australia have little or no access to the internet, few news sources and limited opportunities for self-expression. We understand that these people need a consistent, accessible and reliable platform for news and expression. We hope to provide them with an opportunity to share their stories and develop a sense of connection. We hope to act as a bridge between the prison and the outside world.
We will report the news, specifically focusing on issues that affect people in prison — including changes to criminal laws and the justice system, new cases that affect incarcerated people’s rights, new policies and procedures inside prisons, and other issues that affect people in prison just as they would affect people outside.
We will publish the letters of people who are currently and were formerly in prison, as well as letters from their friends and families. These letters will be a chance for incarcerated people to tell their stories; share advice; express concerns, fears and hope; and write about anything at all.
We will have a section dedicated to legal education and information. It will provide information about access to legal and social resources, how to seek and receive effective legal representation, what to believe and what not to believe about rumours going around the prison – which proliferate wildly.
And we will share jokes, poetry, songs, music lyrics and artwork. We will publish cartoons, games, riddles, brain teasers and recipes. We will offer tips about preparing for life outside prison, and how to stay healthy.
The possibilities are endless.
Article 18 of the ICCPR provides that everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds. The United Kingdom understands this. Since 1990, a charity in London has published Inside Time, a 60+page, free monthly prison newspaper, to every cell in every prison across the UK. As their publisher and director, John Roberts, said, “Prisoners wanted their own newspaper that was solely for them. Rather than a journalist telling prisoners about their problems, they wanted to be saying it themselves.”
That’s our aim, too. The majority of About Time’s content will come from currently or formerly incarcerated people. The paper will go out to every incarcerated person in Victoria, NSW and the ACT, each month for free. Hopefully, with permission from their corrections departments, the other jurisdictions will soon follow suit.
We are inspired by the UK’s success, and indeed, the success of reams of prison newspapers and prison journalism projects throughout Europe and the United States. Australia has very little when it comes to this space. We hope to help change that.
If you believe in our mission, we ask that you share the paper and our website (www.abouttime.org.au) far and wide. We ask that you contribute or suggest potential contributors. We ask that you donate (if you can) to make this project a reality.
Joseph Friedman is Managing Director and Publisher at About Time. He was most recently an Associate at the Supreme Court of Victoria, and previously worked as a solicitor at Allens. He is also a freelance journalist.
Cover image credit: Ike Curtis
This post was originally published on Castan Centre for Human Rights Law .