Prisons and Punishment

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia opposes the death penalty, calling on the junta to release unjustly detained prisoners and end violence in the country.

A group of 17 teenagers has been relocated from WA's Banksia Hill Detention Centre to an isolated unit at a maximum security prison, despite a backlash from advocates.

Family members of teenage boys relocated to Western Australia's highest security prison fear the move will ensnare them in a cycle of violence, as the national children's commissioner says disadvantaged youth are being blamed for system failures. 

A brazen escape plan by Canberra woman Lila Walto who rammed a corrective services vehicle to spring her partner from prison has landed her with a six-year jail term.

Among those executed was former hip-hop artist and ousted MP Phyo Zeya Thaw, who has close ties to Australia and whose death has sent a ripple of shock through the diaspora community here.

A coroner finds the failure to identify and treat an Indigenous inmate's ear disease precipitated the man's death in custody and recommends a trial of Medicare for Aboriginal people in custody.

Authorities say Kaitlin Armstrong used several aliases and tried to become a yoga teacher in Costa Rica before being caught. 

The teenagers, formerly detained at Banksia Hill Detention Centre, move to an isolated unit at the maximum-security Casuarina Prison.

Inmates are being encouraged to express their thoughts and feelings through songs, with some unexpected results.

'Yesterday' by Sione from 'Songbirds 3'

A judge told lawyers he would jail film director Roman Polanski for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl, a former prosecutor testifies.

WA's Commissioner for Children and Young People and protestors voice their opposition to the transfer of 20 boys from Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre to Casuarina Prison.

The increase in staffing at Tasmania's controversial youth detention centre means a lockdown that forced children to be locked in their rooms for most of the day can finally lift.

Casey White is charged with the murder of prison officer Vicky White, who led him out of jail in handcuffs before the pair went on the run.

Legal advocates and former prisoners claim a lack of effective rehabilitation programs at Darwin's only adult prison is contributing to the Northern Territory's staggering reoffending rates.

Melbourne man Jason Roberts who was accused of the brutal slaying of two Victorian police officers has left prison for the first time in decades after being acquitted of their murders.

Legal advocates and former prisoners claim a lack of effective rehabilitation programs at Darwin's only adult prison is contributing to the Northern Territory's staggering reoffending rates.

The shortlist for Australia’s top literary award includes an epic novel about a life shaped by trauma, and a pregnant teen’s letter to the baby she may never get to raise.

A Greens push for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised from 10 to 14 years old reignites the debate in South Australia, with the state government saying it is considering the proposal.

NCA bomber Domenic Perre is recovering in the Royal Adelaide Hospital after undergoing heart surgery. The 65-year-old collapsed last week shortly after being found guilty of murder and attempted murder. 

For most people in western New South Wales, the Three Wise Women mobile cafe is a place to grab a coffee, but for some women it's a second chance.

The brother of a woman who was murdered, dismembered and buried in a strawberry patch 20 years ago tells the Supreme Court the killer is a "monster" who remains a danger if released.

A US District Judge has sentenced the former college cheerleader to 12 years behind bars.

A man who killed his son and dumped his body in an outback mine shaft is one step away from being discharged from a mental health facility, a South Australian court hears.

A group of 20 young offenders from Banksia Hill detention centre will be relocated to a new youth facility at Casuarina Prison in a move an advocate says is gearing them up for a life in the criminal justice system.