Imprisoned people have always been vulnerable and in need of human rights protections. The slow but steady growth in the protection of imprisoned people’s rights over recent decades in Australia has mostly come from incremental change to prison legislation and common law principles. A radical influence is about to disrupt this slow change. Australian prisons and other closed environments will soon be subject to international inspections by the United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT). This is because the Australian Government ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in December 2017. Australia’s international human rights law obligations as they apply to prisons are complex and stem from multiple Treaties. This book distils these obligations into five prerequisites for compliance, consistent with the preventive focus of the OPCAT. They are: reduce reliance on imprisonment align domestic legislation with Australia’s international human rights law obligations shift the focus of imprisonment to the goal of rehabilitation and restoration support prison staff to treat imprisoned people in a human rights–consistent manner ensure decent physical conditions in all prisons. Attention to each of these five areas will help all levels of Australian government and prison managers take the steps required to move towards compliance. Human-rights led prison reform is necessary both to improve the lives of imprisoned people and for Australia to achieve compliance with the international human rights legal obligations to which it has voluntarily committed itself.

Beginning with the punishment systems of the ancient world, Sean O'Toole investigates the birth of the modern prison, the transportation process, the convict era and finally the creation of Australia’s various State and Territory prisons and community corrections systems.

This bulletin reports on the mental health of prison entrants, based on data from the 2010 National Prisoner Health Census. In 2010: - Nearly one third of prison entrants reported that they had mental health issues (a rate 2.5 times higher than the general population) - 16% of prison entrants took medication for mental health issues - 3 in 4 prison entrants who were taking mental health medication also used illicit drugs during the previous 12 months.

Each research paper (No. 1 - No. 22) annotated separately.

The South Australian Year Book utilises the wide range of social and economic data available from the ABS to produce a comprehensive picture of contemporary South Australian society.