PARTNER & SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS AND COMMUNITIES

Incarceration Nation will challenge existing narratives of Indigenous incarceration in Australia and tell the truth of our history, revealing the racist systems that continue to impact First Nations people today – and inspiring audiences to dismantle them for a better future.

The film is a powerful tool for individuals, organisations and communities to start nuanced conversations about racism, justice and sovereignty.

Working closely with our impact partners, we will use this film as a key tool to shift narratives, deepen understanding and motivate meaningful action for change under four key themes: Truth-Telling, Anti-Racism, Speaking Up and Supporting First Nations Voices and Solutions.


Incarceration Nation acknowledges the tireless work of First Nations people, activists, campaigners, survivors and trailblazers who have come before.

We acknowledge the incredible work being done by individuals and organisations.

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Learn more about our partners and the incredible work they do below.

Support their campaigns and work by donating and taking action.

Aboriginal Legal Services (NSW/ACT) Limited

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Born out of a protest movement, the ALS is the primary legal service for Aboriginal people in NSW and the ACT. We deliver quality and culturally appropriate legal services in criminal law, children’s care and protection law, and family law for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, free of charge. For over 50 years, we have been advocating for justice and working to reform the legal system to uphold the rights of our peoples.
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Amnesty

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Amnesty International is a movement and organisation committed to protecting and fighting for human rights through detailed research and determined campaigning.

Antar

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ANTaR is a national advocacy organisation dedicated specifically to the rights – and overcoming the disadvantage – of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We do this primarily through lobbying, public campaigns and advocacy.

CASSE

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CASSE is an organisation of dedicated professionals who work with people at their most vulnerable. Our primary goal is to support and think together about how to develop secure relations and psychological wellbeing for today and the future. Through our work with Aboriginal people and children at risk, we have discovered that a sense of pride, purpose and value is the basis from which we all grow and contribute positively to the world.

Change the Record

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Change the Record is Australia’s only national Aboriginal led justice coalition of legal, health and family violence prevention experts. Their mission is to end the incarceration of, and family violence against, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Deadly Connections Community and Justice Services

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Deadly Connections is an Aboriginal Community-led, not for profit organisation that breaks the cycles of disadvantage and trauma to directly address the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the child protection and justice system through community centred, culturally responsive and holistic programs developed to create safer communities and connections between community members.

Democracy in Colour

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Democracy in Colour is a national racial and economic justice organisation led by people of colour who run campaigns that tackle structural racism and build the power of people of colour to shape the critical issues that affect lives.

Justice Action

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Justice Action (JA) represents people locked in Australian prisons and hospitals, defending human rights in the hardest places. JA continues the tradition of representing people affected by imprisonment and targeting the abuse of authority against other vulnerable individuals who are incarcerated. It funds its independence through the social enterprise Breakout Media Communications.

Justice Reform Initiative

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The Justice Reform Initiative is a national justice advocacy organisation that is working to reduce over-incarceration in Australia and promote a community in which disadvantage is no longer met with a default criminal justice system response. We are committed to ending Australia’s harmful and costly reliance on imprisonment. The Justice Reform Initiative acknowledges that we are joining an incredible group of advocates and organisations who have been working for years to bring about change to the justice system in Australia. This is especially the case for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led organisations who have been driving advocacy work in the area of over-incarceration for decades. The Justice Reform Initiative respects First Nations leadership and seeks to support and wherever possible elevate existing justice reform and advocacy voices.

Just Reinvest NSW

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Just Reinvest NSW supports Aboriginal communities to explore and establish justice reinvestment (JR) initiatives and advocates for systemic changes that reduces the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system. JR is a way of working that is led by the community, informed by data and builds strategies to address issues at a local level. The aim is to redirect funding away from prisons and into communities that have high rates of contact with the criminal justice system, through both community-led initiatives and state-wide policy and legislative reform.

Murri Watch

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Murri Watch Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Corporation is a not-for-profit organisation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (The CATSI Act). Murri Watch was established in 1991 just prior to the handing down of the Recommendations arising from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. Our purpose is to support an evidence-based operational and policy environment in which cultural connection, belonging and kinship care supported by trauma informed and healing focused leadership contributes to significant reductions in incarceration rates, homelessness, public drunkenness and zero deaths in custody across Queensland.

NAAJA

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The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) delivers high quality and culturally competent legal services to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. In addition to our core legal practice in criminal and civil law, we provide law and justice related services that aim to ensure that Aboriginal people have real access to justice.

National Justice Project

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The National Justice Project is a not-for-profit legal service, that combines strategic legal action with effective advocacy and communication to advance human rights and social justice in Australia.

Racism. It stops with me

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Racism. It Stops With Me” is a national campaign that provides tools and resources to help people and organisations learn about racism and stand against it by acting for positive change, led by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Incarceration Nation is another stark reminder of the failures of Australia's so called justice system. In the cool, calm and controlled outrage expressed by the film's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, all who watch Incarceration Nation will see and hear the truth of this systematic injustice but also the strength and resilience of Aboriginal people. We must get this right.

Paul WrightNational Director, ANTaR

‘Essential viewing for all Australians’ , ‘must watch’, ‘truth-telling in action’

June Oscar AO

Incarceration Nation is a raw and shocking exposé of our criminal ‘justice’ system. Although at times hard to watch, it is vital viewing for all Australians. It will help us understand the history of our country and how systemic racism impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples every day. Without this understanding, we will be unable to heal from our past and move forward as a country.

Lorana BartelsProfessor of Criminology, Australian National University; Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Canberra and University of Tasmania; Justice Reform Initiative board member

Incarceration Nation is harrowing and heartbreaking, it takes the viewer on a journey through the legislative/policy changes (both historic and contemporary) that create systemic incarceration and racial injustice. I commend all involved in the producing, filming, storytelling and making of this very powerful, truthful film. Congratulations!

Des RogersMurri Watch

I encourage all Australians to watch this film. It exposes deep truths about who we are as a nation ... This is a racial justice issue and one that we all must come together to address; we must not turn away. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are providing genuine solutions to these issues. Taking leadership from their communities is the only way to tackle the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australian prisons and the unacceptable number of deaths in custody. I particularly call on policy makers to reflect on the issues the film reveals and the solutions it puts forward.

Chin TanRace Discrimination Commissioner
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners whose lands we have filmed on – the Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul people, the Birpai People, the Wadawurrung people, the Gadigal people and the Darug people. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging as Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land.