justicematters is a podcast about the criminal justice system, prisons and the politics of incarceration. Discussions and interviews with those caught up in,, or otherwise involved with, the criminal justice system; plus expert commentary, prison poetry and music.
The project began as a collaboration Margaret Burns, a teacher at the Dawn De Loas Correctional Centre in Sydney, and Kate Pinnock, the producer and presenter of the weekly “Jailbreak” radio show on 2 SER. Kate ran a series of workshops for a small group of volunteer inmates. After creating edited content for “Jailbreak” the group was keen to further develop the skills they had acquired so Margaret and I developed the idea of producing a complete radio program to support the case for NSW Corrective Services developing of a prison radio service. Ina series of workshops the group developed the script for the program and recorded the content. A digital audio workstation was brought in for the final couple of sessions so that the guys could participate in the editing process. The finished product was presented to a meeting of senior Corrective Services staff and was well received. Unfortunately the proposal to develop a prison radio service was not taken up.
22 Aug 2023
Series Two - Episode 6
This episode features recordings from the Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Centre at Parklea, near Sydney. The Red Room Company delivered their highly successful "Unlocked" prison poetry programme over a period of three full days. The outcomes included a print anthology, a CD of audio recordings (spoken word and two hip hop tracks), and a presentation to the weekly community meeting attended by all participants and staff at the centre. Jails are noisy places with hard surfaces that are not conducive to high quality audio recording so the workshop and presentation sections are not ideal. However they do convey a sense of the engagement and enthusiasm displayed by the participants.
26 Jan 2023
Series Two - Episode 5
The Justice Reform Initiative is an alliance of people who share long-standing professional experience, lived experience and/or expert knowledge of the justice system. In this episode we hear from two representatives of this campaigning group. They believe jailing is failing and that there is an urgent need to reduce the number of people in Australian prisons.
We also share some remarkable musical performances recorded as part of an experimental internal TV project at Dillwynia Women's Prison.
1 Dec 2022
Series Two - Episode 4
This episode features the music tracks that were created in workshops run by Indigenous hip hop outfit Last Kinection at John Moroney Correctional Centre, west of Sydney. Working with Indigenous prisoners musicians Joel Wenitog, Simone Stacey and DJ Jay Tee wrote and recorded three tracks which were performed at a community concert which was the culmination of the workshops. Music video clips were also produced and these were screened on internal jail TV systems. The quality of the material produced is a testament to the possibilities opened up by creative and imaginative approaches to prison education.
14 Oct 2022
Series Two - Episode 3
This episode documents a music talent competition organised by music teacher Heiko Altman in a western Sydney jail. Some remarkable talent was uncovered and the proceedings were filmed for an internal jail TV project. The best performers were given the opportunity to record in a fully equipped music studio. The quality of the music produced is a testament to thebeneficila effects of such programs in jails.
6 Apr 2022
Series Two - Episode 2
In this episode we revisit the Poetry Club at Dillwynia Women's prison near Sydney. On this occasion the invited poet was Mark Mahemoff, whose new collection "Trojan Gifts" will be published shortly. Preparations for the session ( preliminary reading, research, writing a letter of invitation to the poet etc.) were incorporated as assessment tasks into accredited TAFE courses in work readiness and literacy.
20 Feb 2022
Series Two Episode 1
This episode features poet Fiona Wright as an invited guest of the Dillwynia Poetry Club, a group set up by women prisoners to read, write and review poetry. The recording of the session was part of an experimental program to develop audiovisual resouces for an in house TV channel at the prison.
18 Feb 2020
Series One - Episode 6 - music from the CDTCC
This episode features music created and recorded at the Compulsory Drug Treatment Correctional Centre at Parklea. The therapeutic system overseen by the Drug Court is explained.The music was created within a framework of TAFE accredited music and digital media courses, and demonstrates the ways in which creative education can play a role in rehabilitation.
15 Sept 2019
Series One - Episode 5 - music teaching in jails
In this episode we meet Joel Rapaport, hip hop artist and manager of recording stable Big Village. We discuss his experience teaching music production courses in the prison system, and hear some of the recordings made by prisoners in his practical song writing and recording sessions.
2 Jul 2019
Series One - Episode 4 - Balund-a 2017
With NAIDOC week approaching we are revisiting Red Room Poetry's Unlocked poetry and music workshops at Balund-a. This time we feature recordings from the NAIDOC week workshops and community celebration in 2017. Balund-a is a diversionary program for young indigenous offenders situated on a beautiful working cattle property near Tabulam in northern NSW. Apart from regular indigenous mentors and facilitators Lionel Fogarty, Joe Geia and Lewis Walker we also hear from a member of staff at Balund-a. She outlines the purpose and philosophy behind the programs offered at Balund-a.
22 Apr 2019
Series One - Episode 3 - poetry in indigenous language
This episode emphasises the role of Elders in mentoring young indigenous offenders on the diversionary program at Balund-a. Uncle Lewis Walker has been a regular collaborator in the annual Red Room Unlocked poetry and music workshops. In this episode we join the participants reading their work in English, with Lewis providing line by line translation into Bundjalung.
5 Mar 2019
Series One - Episode 2 - Balund-a 2018
Balund-a is a residential diversionary program for young indigenous offenders, located on a working rural property on the Clarence River, near Tabulam, in northern NSW. In addition to drug and alcohol recovery programs, Balund-a offers participants vocational training, numeracy and literacy courses, and a cultural reconnection program overseen by on site indigenous Elders.For several years now the Red Room Company has brought their Unlocked prison poetry program to Balund-a during NAIDOC week. In 2018 poet Lionel Fogarty and musician, Joe Geia, returned to facilitate the workshops. This episode of justicematters features the NAIDOC concert that formed the high point and culmination of the workshops.
6 Feb 2019
Series One - Episode 1 - Keenan Mundine
In this initial episode indigenous ex prisoner Keenan Mundine talks about his experiences in juvenile detention and adult prisons in NSW. We also discuss his work as an advocate for young people caught up in the justice system, and his involvement with campaigning for prison reform.
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