R (on the application of Gordon-Jones) v Secretary of State for Justice and Governor of HM Prison Send [2014] EWHC 3997 (Admin) – read judgment

Contrary to what some media reports would have us believe, Prison Service Instruction (“PSI”) 30/2013 did not impose an absolute ban on books in prisons. It did, however, impose severe restrictions on the possession or acquisition of books which a prisoner can treat as his or her own. The High Court has found that those restrictions could not be justified by the limited provision of prison library services and are therefore unlawful.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has found Indigenous people deemed mentally unfit to enter a plea in legal proceedings brought against them have been held indefinitely in maximum security in an Alice Springs prison.
 

Caring for ex-prisoners under the NDIS would save money and lives

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) promises to deliver better support to the one in five Australians living with a disability. But what about those inside prison or who have just left prison? Will the NDIS look after them too, or keep pushing them through the cracks?ews Story here

CHRIS UHLMANN: South Australia's coroner Mark Johns has expressed concern over cost cutting measures in the maximum security unit of the country's oldest operating prison.




 

Case of mentally ill Aboriginal man jailed indefinitely to be reviewed in December

The imprisonment of a mentally impaired Aboriginal man without conviction in Western Australia since 2003 will be reviewed in December.

It's so dark that as soon as the door clicks shut, you can't see your hand in front of your face. There are no windows. All that's visible are glimmers of light flickering under the door as a prison guard walks past your cell.

Australia's prison population is rapidly ageing, with the nation's jails now holding more than twice the number of old-age inmates than nine years ago.

Poor health outcomes for ex-prisoners after release

People with a history of mental disorders experience particularly poor outcomes after being released from prison, according to new researchd News Story here

Since 2006, I have led the Shakespeare Prison Project, an initiative by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, in high-security men’s prisons.

By Rob Pensalfini

Senior Lecturer, School of English, Media Studies and Art History at University of Queensland

An investigation into the humane treatment of women in Canberra's prison has raised concerns about the mental health care of two detainees and the lack of employment opportunities.

Teenager spent nearly two years in a Victorian adult prison

A defence barrister has savaged the justice system for allowing a teenager to be wrongly held for 20 months in the Victorian adult prison system.

We know solitary confinement annihilates the minds of its victims - but what does it do to the rest of us?

By Lisa Guenther, 2900 words

The detention of more than 140 teenage boys in an adult prison in Perth is being described as a national shame by human rights activists.
 

Nick Clegg has launched the Department of Health’s latest action plan for mental health services, Closing the Gap: priorities for essential change in mental health.

By Ian Cummins

Senior Lecturer in Social Work at University of Salford

A PRISONER advocate fears self-harming among inmates will rise with the Newman Government's decision to ban smoking in jails.

Former attorney-general Rob Hulls says he is determined to save a specialised legal service for the mentally ill after it lost most of its funding.

Australia spends billions of dollars every year on our prison systems yet the number of those being sent to jail keeps increasing.

By Peter Norden

Adjunct Professor, School of Global, Social and Urban Studies at RMIT University