While some US states are making prison phone calls free, a 12-minute phone call from a Victorian prison can cost more than a prisoner's wages for the day.
But in some Australian jails, private telecommunications companies are charging prices advocates fear are pushing the cost of connecting with loved ones beyond the reach of some prisoners.Advocates want the price of prison calls to be reduced or made freeIt can cost nearly $7 to make a 12-minute phone call from Victorian jails, with high prison call costs standard across most of the country.
"When you have children, you should be able to call your children without the worry of whether you can afford it or not," she said. The Yoorrook Justice Commission, Victoria's Indigenous truth-telling inquiry, has heard evidence the high prison call costs disproportionately impact First Nations people, who are over-represented in the justice system.
She said the high price of calls had added impacts on First Nations people due to family and cultural obligations."That connection to your family and community is what keeps us strong as Aboriginal people."We're in an age now where these phone calls should be free … we've got mobiles now." During the Yoorrook inquiry's recent public hearings, government officials acknowledged the high prices of prison calls.
Victorian prisoners were paying the highest rate to call mobiles in the country for which data was available.Queensland and South Australia declined to provide the cost of calls to mobiles for prisoners, claiming the information was commercially sensitive.
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