For people caught in the revolving door of prison, the risk of suicide often extends beyond custody, exposing the failure of justice, health and housing systems to support life after release.
Jane Anderson
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Connect people leaving prison with a job: it works!
Almost everyone in prison today will return to our communities. Whether they reoffend depends on what we do to prevent recidivism. In Western Australia, we know what works – prisoner employment programs – so the question is will we allow it to happen instead of relying on counterproductive risk management and control strategies? (more…)
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When prisons expand, policy has already failed
Plans to convert a Covid quarantine facility into a prison reflect a justice system responding to pressure with infrastructure instead of addressing the drivers of incarceration. (more…)
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Escaping the tough-on-crime media trap
Decades of tough-on-crime rhetoric have narrowed political debate, but safer communities may depend on shifting the conversation toward prevention, accountability and repair.
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Punishment politics and the suppression of restorative justice
Decades of ‘tough on crime’ policy have expanded prisons while narrowing reform. Restorative justice has been repeatedly constrained not for lack of evidence, but because it redistributes authority away from the state. (more…)
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Punishment politics is breaking Western Australia’s justice system
A capability review of WA’s Justice Department shows a system overwhelmed by rising demand, delays and overcrowding. The underlying problem is political – punitive law-and-order settings that expand pressure without building capacity or preventing harm.
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Best of 2025 – Making First Nations prisoners visible in Labor politics
Despite Western Australian Labor’s rhetoric on equality and Closing the Gap, incarcerated First Nations people remain politically invisible. Without formal representation and lived-experience voices in party deliberations, meaningful reform is impossible. The 2027 State Labor Conference is the moment to change that. (more…)
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Making First Nations prisoners visible in Labor politics
Despite Western Australian Labor’s rhetoric on equality and Closing the Gap, incarcerated First Nations people remain politically invisible. Without formal representation and lived-experience voices in party deliberations, meaningful reform is impossible. The 2027 State Labor Conference is the moment to change that. (more…)
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Dying in prison
The political predilection for punishment is contributing to yet another stressor on prisons. As Australia’s prison population ages, so, too, do inmates risk dying inside. (more…)
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Foolhardy prison expansion
The opening of yet another large prison in Australia, this time in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, is foolhardy. (more…)
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Homeless shelters are needed urgently
Governments are not grasping the urgency to provide immediate relief in temporary accommodation for those caught up in homelessness. Political discourse is almost solely focused on providing affordable and social housing. But making good on these promises will take years. (more…)
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We are overdue for a hybrid Aboriginal-Western map of juvenile justice
Highly troubled Aboriginal youth offenders are rolling down the road of Western justice at everyone’s peril and which Four Corners has exposed as perpetrating great harm. It’s about time we followed a different hybrid Aboriginal-Western map – one that is relevant, properly funded, and respected.
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Justice for women, justice for All.
International Women’s Day celebrates how far women have come, and how far we have yet to go. (more…)
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The good life: a priest’s 10 commandments for the Catholic Church
The memoirs of trailblazing priest John Wijngaards contain a weight of wisdom on how the Church can free itself of antiquated beliefs and fulfil its true mission. (more…)
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Scales of justice tarnished when punishment outweighs restoration
Australia has a predilection for jailing vulnerable citizens but tough penalties are not working. The disadvantaged continue to be repressed, coerced and stigmatised. (more…)
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Lessons from progressive Catholics for the Plenary Council
Historically, the Church has thrived on the margins. Today, that potential continues to beckon.
