The Commission convened a workshop in Sydney on 27 November 2000 on this topic. It was attended by more than 120 participants. The workshop was addressed by two keynote speakers: Dr William Jonas AM, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, and Baroness Vivien Stern from the International Centre for Prison Studie at King's College London who travelled to Australia as a guest of the Commission. Dr Jonas's keynote speech "Citizens Inside" can be read by clicking here.
The Book:
Prisoners as Citizens
Edited by David Brown (Professor of Law, University of NSW) and Meredith Wilkie (Director, Race Discrimination Unit, HREOC)
'a landmark collection on prisoners' citizenship rights in Australia ... disturbing reading for citizens concerned about the decency and social justice of our democracy...'
Professor John Braithwaite
As prison populations continue to expand across the western world the question of the rights of prisoners has become an increasingly pressing issue, particularly in the light of new human rights discourses.
This important new book gives voice to a diverse range of viewpoints arising out of this debate in the Australian context, while the issues raised will have powerful echoes elsewhere. The contributors to this book include the prisoners themselves, human rights activists, academics, criminal justice policy makers and practitioners.
Overall the book presents a powerful argument that prisoners do and should have rights in any society that professes to be a democracy, bringing to the fore a debate that society would often prefer to forget.
To view the Table of contents click here
To order "Prisoners as Citizens" visit the Federation Press website