
We have a problem stop looking away. Karina Hogan, journalist and Sisters Inside Board Director
That's someone's child, someone's father, mother, uncle, aunty, cousin, grandmother, grandparent Keenan Mundine, Co-Founder and Ambassador, Deadly Connections and Justice Services Limited
We started out as a penal colony, and we've continued to be one ever since. Olga Havnen, CEO, Danila Dilba Health Service
Someone dies and there is no consequence. Apryl Watson, daughter of Tanya Day
It's an injustice to have this country's original inhabitants 13 times more likely to end up in prison. Professor Don Weatherburn, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Executive Director of the Judicial Commission of New South Wales 1988-2019
** VIEW TRAILER HERE - PLEASE NOTE VIEWERS MAY FIND THIS CONTENT DISTRESSING** **INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE **
Every day, thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia wake up behind the bars of Australian prisons. Children live out their childhood in juvenile detention centres, hundreds of kilometres away from their family. Families continue to fight for justice and accountability for the deaths of their once imprisoned relatives, while the calls for solutions which empower Indigenous Australians to drive the change needed become louder.
Incarceration Nation lays bare the story of the continued systemic injustice and inequality experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on their own land, told by Indigenous Australians, experts and academics. Premiering on free to air television on Sunday 29 August at 8:30pm, National Indigenous Television (NITV) is proud to bring this important documentary to Australian screens.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are amongst the most incarcerated people in the world.[1] Whilst representing 3.3 per cent of the Australian population[2], Indigenous men make up 27 per cent of prisoners[3] and Indigenous women constitute 34 per cent of prisoners[4]. Approximately 65 per cent of incarcerated children aged between 10 and 13 in Australia are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples[5], while Indigenous youth make up 55 per cent of Australia's youth prison population. There have been at least 478 Indigenous deaths in custody in Australia from 1991 to 2021[6] - and no criminal convictions for the accused. Incarceration Nation puts First Nations voices front and centre, as they fight for change, visibility and equality.
Writer and director and Guugu Yimithirr man Dean Gibson explores the firsthand devastation by those affected, meets those who are trying to make a difference and discusses this systemic problem with some of our nation's brightest minds. His mission? To find out how this issue has reached crisis point - so much so, that it has been recognised internationally as a human rights issue[7], yet isn't at the top of the national agenda.
This issue is explored through archive footage and interviews with experts and academics including Federal Circuit Court Judge Matthew Myers, Australia's Human Rights Commissioner from 2009 - 2016 Mick Gooda, barrister Joshua Creamer, Associate Professor Chelsea Watego, Professor Don Weatherburn, author Amy McGuire and lawyer Teela Reid. Incarceration Nation also gives voice to those for whom this is lived experience - Keenan Mundine, Carly Stanley as well as the Dungay, Fisher, Day and Hickey families who each share the trauma of losing a family member whilst they were in custody. Through these perspectives, Incarceration Nation reflects on Australia's history, and how massacres, child removals, stolen wages, denial of education and over-policing, racism and systemic bias have continued to drive overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the criminal justice system, and the devastating impact it continues to have.
NITV's Head of Commissioning and Programming, Kyas Hepworth said: Incarceration Nation will ignite a timely and crucial conversation about Australia today, and what we hope may change for its future. For many Indigenous Australians, these are stories we have felt and unfortunately, we have known. The story of incarceration in Australia from a Blak perspective may open an unfamiliar discussion for some, but an important one that needs to be had.
As Australia's dedicated First Nations broadcaster, our hope is that the voices and stories of those featured, and the many more they represent across Australia, are heard, understood and resonate long beyond broadcast.
Writer and director Dean Gibson said: Australia was founded by the English with one clear purpose - to create a prison island. Over 200 years later, not much has changed. Rather than housing criminals from England, we are filling our jails with our most vulnerable and disadvantaged population.
Families live with the trauma of losing loved ones who have been in police custody or imprisoned, and that trauma continues when no-one is held accountable. No justice, no peace. Incarceration Nation will be a national conversation starter that will challenge Australia and the justice system.
NITV will also air a suite of programming that examines the issues around Indigenous incarceration in Australia.
At 8:30pm on Monday 23 August on Living Black, Karla Grant speaks with justice reformer Debbie Kilroy about how she is standing up for women behind bars, paying unpaid fines for prisoners and why she thinks a world without prisons is possible.
On Tuesday 24 August at 7:30pm, The Point will air a special feature interview with Dean Gibson, as well as extensive coverage of on-going death in custody trials.
Then on Monday 30 August at 8:30pm on Living Black, Karla Grant will speak with youth justice advocate Keenan Mundine about how he turned his life around from being an orphan to
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...