For two years Lisa Maloney has paid about $40 every four months so her son can call her every day from a prison in New South Wales. Now she will be paying about $300 after the state’s correctional services banned affordable phone call options run by third-party services.
“I’ll keep paying but I’m worried about others who won’t be able to afford to contact their loved ones as much,” said Maloney, who lives on a pension in north-west Victoria and can’t afford to visit her son in Lithgow.
“It’s more for him than me, to boost his self-morale and hear someone on the outside.”
NSW deactivated third-party call management services – which are still available in other states – in mid-June due to security concerns, citing the risk of inmates engaging in criminal activity or intimidating witnesses, given the services do not follow prison protocols to verify inmate contacts.
For most calls, inmates will be charged about 24c a minute to call a mobile or $2.60 for 10 minutes.
The NSW Greens justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said the security concerns should be addressed in a way that does not remove the ability for inmates to regularly contact their friends and family, which studies show is crucial to reducing recidivism.
Higginson said she received reports from several families of inmates since the decision was made who are distressed their contact will now be limited because of the cost.
“Already, we see harsh treatment of inmates in NSW prisons, lack of access to education and rehabilitation programs and now, affordable options for maintaining contact with loved ones has been removed,” Higginson said. “This is an unacceptable and significant backward step.”
Previously, a service called Engine Numbers facilitated phone calls that were 30-40c a call. That service is used by thousands of inmates in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland.
Inmates in NSW – who approximately earn between $15 and and $80 a week – can access free calls to legal services and organisations such as the NSW ombudsman. They still get one personal call a week and have the option of free video calls – but these require a booking, can only occur during visitation hours and slots are limited, with families sometimes waiting weeks.
Many inmates pay for their own calls, while others receive assistance from family members.
The advocacy group Sisters Inside helps women call their children and family from prison.
“Phone calls to family members should be free, full stop,” Debbie Kilroy, the group’s chief executive, said.
“For mothers and their children, that regular contact is absolutely fundamental … Lots of children feel abandoned when their mothers go to prison because of the limited contact and children don’t understand that the prison system puts that limited contact in place, not the mother.”
A 2014 study showed inmates who have regular phone contact with family were less likely to reoffend upon release and it reduced recidivism more than in-person visits.
A number of US states, including California, Minnesota and Connecticut, have made phone calls for inmates free.
Tom Barker, a director of Engine Numbers, said the service started two-and-a-half years ago after he learned the price of phone calls from prisons was an issue.
He said he wasn’t aware of Corrective Services NSW’s security concerns until it deactivated the service. He intends to modify the service to address this so it is allowed to operate again.
A spokeswoman for Corrective Services NSW said it understands the importance of inmates maintaining connections with loved ones and works to support those links.
She said it has recently extended the allowed call duration and introduced tablets as another option to make calls.
