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Jailing Is Failing

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

Jailing is failing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is more than 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Although governments accepted almost all of the Commission’s...

Jailing is Failing Children

Jailing is failing children. Most children who enter the youth justice system (including children as young as 10) come from backgrounds where they have already experienced disadvantage and trauma, with a significant...

Women

Jailing is failing women. In Australia the vast majority of incarcerated women have themselves survived crime in the form gendered violence. This includes many women who have survived family and domestic violence. Women’s incarceration...

Jailing is Failing people with mental health conditions and cognitive disability

Jailing is also failing those with mental health conditions and cognitive disability.  People with disability and mental health conditions including children, are overrepresented across the criminal justice systems in Australia, and are...

Taxpayers

Jailing is failing Australian taxpayers. In addition to being harmful and ineffective, imprisonment is also extremely expensive. The cost of adult incarceration in Australia is more than $6.3 billion per annum. The cost...

Jailing is Failing people who experience disadvantage

Jailing is failing the most disadvantaged. The majority of people incarcerated in Australia come from circumstances where they have experienced multiple and intersecting disadvantages. There are eight social determinants that increase the likelihood...

Victims of crime

Jailing is failing victims of crime. Victims of crime frequently call for better support alongside better access to justice. Victims of crime also often advocate for processes and responses that genuinely address...

As a deterrent

Jailing is failing as a deterrent. 61% of all people in prison in Australia have been in prison before. There has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of people in prison with...

Rehabilitation

Jailing is failing in terms of rehabilitation. In order to break the cycle of incarceration, people need access to support services that address the drivers of contact with the criminal justice system. People need...

Latest News and Media Releases

Anne Hollonds: Locking up more kids in jail won't fix crime

The Herald Sun, 26 December 2025

January 05, 2026

Media Release: Victorian Government is sentencing children to worse outcomes in life by treating them as adults

Justice Reform Initiative Media Release, 5 December 2025

December 05, 2025

Patrick Burton and Rob White: Think small to have big impact on youth justice

The Mercury, 26 November 2025  

November 28, 2025

About our community

Our Patrons

CO-PATRONS IN CHIEF We are honoured to have two distinguished Australians take on the role of Co-Patrons in Chief of the Justice Reform Initiative. The Honourable Sir William Deane AC KBE, former...

Supporter Organisations

The Justice Reform Initiative supports the work of these organisations and appreciates their support as we work together for a better justice system. If you would like to join the supporter organisation...

Lived Experience

In our campaign and advocacy work to reduce incarceration, the Justice Reform Initiative advocates for the meaningful involvement of people with lived and living prison experience. We recognise that the expertise of people...

Supporter organisations

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