NewsBite

Prisons

Advertisement
Casuarina Prison, Western Australia.

WA’s notorious Unit 18 should close despite positive changes, review finds

There have been significant improvements in the management of young people in detention, a new review has found – but Unit 18 should still close.

  • Holly Thompson

Latest

Cleveland Dodd died after being held in Unit 18. His mother Nadene Dodd wants to ensure change is made. Picture: WAtoday

‘Matter of urgency’: Coroner calls for closure of WA youth prison unit

Coroner Philip Urquhart called for the justice department to be stripped of its role overseeing young people.

  • Aaron Bunch
During the first leaders’ debate on October 3, then opposition leader David Crisafulli pledged to resign as premier if he could not get crime victim rates down.

Victims support harsher sentencing, but it’s not all they want

The LNP is standing firm on its plan to cement “consequences for actions” and punish young offenders. Will it deliver what victims of violent crime say is missing?

  • Courtney Kruk
George Marrogi

Inside the fall of George Marrogi: Enemies loot millions as jailed gang boss cracks

Rivals have claimed a $10 million victory tax, while tormenting the once-powerful crime kingpin has become an underworld sport. Warning: Distressing content.

  • Chris Vedelago
Cultivating small amounts of cannabis became legal in the ACT in 2020.

As sure as gay marriage, private cannabis use will not be a crime

It won’t happen in this term of the NSW government, but reform is inevitable.

  • Stephen Lawrence
Inspector Eamon Ryan said most prisons were grappling with “massive overcrowding”.

Damning watchdog report finds WA prisons ‘understaffed, overcrowded, breaching human rights standards’

A scathing report by WA’s prisons watchdog has found the state’s prisons are struggling under the weight of understaffing and overcrowding, with increasingly poor conditions that were breaching human rights standards.

  • Jesinta Burton
Advertisement
Ilbijerri Theatre’s Big Name, No Blankets is performed at a Melbourne prison.

‘So hungry for something beyond four walls’: The musical bringing joy to prisons

Ilbijerri Theatre’s Big Name, No Blankets wowed audiences at the big festivals in Sydney and Melbourne. Now it’s winning over the toughest crowd of all.

  • Karl Quinn
By the time Tyson spent his 18th birthday in a detention cell, he had been incarcerated up to nine times. “Have you got yourself a dream? You don’t get asked that in there. They ask you when your next court date is.”

Tyson was 11 when he was first locked up. It took seven years to turn things around

Nobody in youth detention asked Tyson about his dreams - they asked about his court dates. Now he wants the prime minister to fix the system.

  • Natassia Chrysanthos
Former correctional officer Amber Clavell

‘Fake it till she makes it’: Prison romance goes horribly wrong

Mother-of two Amber Clavell smuggled drugs to a convicted armed robber with whom she was in an intimate relationship.

  • Amber Schultz
Psychologist and veteran Nev Jones will travel to five countries next year to investigate the mental health benefits of green woodworking in therapeutic sessions for veterans.

‘Reintegrating people into society is a big part of this project’ 

Nev Jones and Richard Brooking have lived vastly different lives, but their projects for the 2024 Churchill Fellowship share a common goal.

  • Courtney Kruk

Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/topic/prisons-1m2p