Biden announces largest single-day act of clemency
The US president has pardoned 39 people and commuted the sentences of nearly 1500 others, a sweeping move that comes after pressure from justice advocates.
prisoners and detainees
Indonesia to pardon thousands including Papua activists
About 30 per cent of all prisoners in Indonesia will be pardoned, law minister Supratman Andi Agtas says.
Coroner calls for urgent closure of troubled youth jail
The coroner hearing an inquest for an Indigenous teen who fatally self-harmed in a youth detention centre has provisionally recommended the facility close.
Women in immigration detention put beside sex offenders
Male sex offenders in Australian immigration detention centres are being housed next to vulnerable women, human rights inspectors have found.
Reform thwarted at jail with ‘racist’ culture: inquest
A senior public servant faced barriers "way beyond what I imagined" when he tried to turn around a trouble-plagued youth detention centre.
Bali Nine members could continue sentences in Australia
The remaining members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring are expected to continuing serving their sentences in Australia, a federal minister has confirmed.
Bali Nine have served ‘more than enough time’: advocate
A supporter of one of the Bali Nine drug smugglers says returning the group to Australia to be with loved ones will make a difference in their rehabilitation.
More prison for inmate who attacked guard with racquet
A prisoner told a judge the only way to protect his sobriety from drug dealers and users in prison was to assault a guard and be sent to punitive detention.
Youth detainees abused in care to share $75m settlement
More than 100 former detainees at a notoriously troubled youth detention centre have had a $75 million payout approved for alleged abuses over 63 years.
Expansive migration laws to deport, ban entry imminent
A trio of migration bills with sweeping government powers is set to be passed after the coalition backed the amendments amid mounting criticisms of overreach.
Deportation, travel ban and dogs in detention laws pass
Three migration bills giving the government extensive powers to deport non-citizens and bar entry to Australia for some nationalities have passed the Senate.
Migration laws crackdown blasted by experts, advocates
Legal experts and advocates have lambasted the government's proposed migration bill changes as "constitutionally unsound" and "misguided", at a Senate inquiry.
Deportation bill ‘constitutionally unsound’: inquiry
A senate inquiry has been told more than 80,000 non-citizens could be removed from Australia under a Labor goverment bill.
Cruel twist as ankle bracelet strapped back on refugee
An ankle monitor removed from an Afghan refugee has been reattached by officials despite the High Court ruling such visa measures to be punitive.
‘Don’t want them in Australia’: ex-detainee crack down
Australia is pressing ahead with its hardline approach to former immigration detainees, seeking to pay third-party countries to take in members of the cohort.
‘That’s not a gun’: accused murderer denied bail
A man accused of murder by providing a woman's alleged killer with a gun just before she was shot has sought bail claiming the case against him was weak.
Political prisoners concerned by diplomacy red tape
Australians wrongfully detained oversees are decrying being freed only to fall through the cracks back home, citing lack of support for them and their families.
NZ pilot freed from captivity in Indonesia’s Papua
Rebels in Papua have released New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens more than one-and-a-half years after kidnapping him.
Landmark settlements for children detained in Nauru
Two children held in offshore detention in Nauru have secured settlements with the Australian government over harm caused to them in a protracted legal battle.
Man wrongfully jailed seeks ‘justice for all’ in court
An Indigenous man taking legal action for being wrongful jailed over a bank robbery says he is fighting for accountability in the justice system for all people.
Review gun laws ‘so no one else has to go through it’
An urgent review of correctional officers' use of firearms has been recommended by an inquiry into the death of an Indigenous man shot while fleeing custody.
Home Affairs refuses apology to detainee over treatment
An immigration detainee held on Christmas Island was subject to unjustified force by security officers, but the Australian government will not apologise.
Call for 90-day detention cap to end asylum ‘cruelty’
Asylum-seeker advocates say a proposal to cap immigration detention at 90 days would be the first step to addressing Australia's 'crisis of detention'.
US prisoners released from Russia back on home soil
The United States and Russia have completed a 24-person prisoner swap, the largest in post-Soviet history, with the US detainees finally back home.
‘High-risk’ serial rapist jailed for graphic searches
A man with a "frightening" history of violent sexual offending, including the gang rape of a Sydney woman, has been sent back to jail over online searches.
‘I was … hurting kids’: ex-justice chief breaks down
Children were subjected to cruel punishment that amounted to institutional abuse in youth detention, a former justice department boss has told an inquest.
Prisoners should be kept 72 hours not 21 days: coroner
Prisoners should be kept in watch houses for a maximum of 72 hours, not 21 days, says a coroner following an inquest into the deaths of two women in custody.
Fate of detainees at Nauru facility still unclear
Detainees at Nauru's offshore processing centre have been told they could be released into the island country's community, but hold fears for their future.
Woman admits ‘hugely valuable’ prison drug smuggling
A court has accepted a sad tale behind the "terrible mistake" a woman made in trying to smuggle drugs that could have been worth $1 million into a prison.
Victoria to axe lucrative private prison deal early
Two prisons will close in Victoria with inmates moved to facilities including a $1.1 billion state-of-the-art prison that's been mothballed since 2022.
‘Given a voice’: youth centre victims reach $75m deal
Lawyers representing former detainees who were abused at Tasmania's youth detention centre have reached an in-principle $75 million settlement with the state.