The Causes and Consequences of Victoria’s Mass Imprisonment Crisis

Flick Chafer-Smith and Meena Singh discuss the growing human, economic and societal consequences of Victoria's soaring incarceration rates.

Victoria is in the grip of a mass imprisonment crisis. As the state’s prison population grows, recent efforts to address crime have focused on tougher consequences. Can punishment alone deliver safer communities? And what does it mean for people caught in the criminal justice system and for those working on its frontline?

Ngarrindjeri artist Flick Chafer-Smith draws on her personal experience of incarceration and her work with The Torch, which provides cultural and arts industry support to First Nations people in, or recently released, from Victorian prisons. Meena Singh is Professor of Practice at Monash Law and the former Victorian Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People.

Together, they will examine Victoria’s current approaches to crime and punishment and ask: Are they actually making our communities safer? Hosted by Maggie Munn, First Nations Justice Director of Human Rights Law Centre.

Presented in partnership with Human Rights Law Centre