KEY PROJECT | Dignity for People in Prison

While a $7 phone call is exorbitant for anyone, a $7 call can amount to more than a day’s work for a person in prison in Victoria. Extremely low pay for work and high call costs mean that life-sustaining connection with family and friends is out of reach for many people behind bars.

People in Victorian prisons are expected to ‘work’ or engage in educational or training programs for 30 hours per week. They are paid anywhere from $3.30 to $8.95 per day. For most, a day’s ‘work’ in prison does not even cover the cost of a single phone call. The steep cost of phone calls is exacerbated by the fact that people entering prison are more likely to have experienced poverty, unemployment or housing instability before being incarcerated and too often do not have the bank balance to meet the cost of calls.

Disconnection from family can have profound, damaging and long-lasting impacts on people’s lives. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – who are over-incarcerated due to a toxic combination of structural racism, discriminatory policing and the ongoing impacts of colonisation – connection to community is particularly important.

This was recognised during hearings of the Yoorrook Justice Commission – the country’s first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria. During its hearings, the Corrections Minister acknowledged that phone call charges were ‘excessive’ and promised to look into what could be done. In response to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, Victoria’s truth-telling process, the Allan Government supported ‘in principle’ taking ‘all necessary steps’ to ensure that people in prison can make telephone calls for free, or at no greater cost than the general community.

The Human Rights Law Centre joined legal, community and prisoner advocacy groups in calling for telephone calls from prisons to be made free. The current cost has isolated families, including children, and can harm people’s prospects for successful reintegration into society after prison.

The Victorian Government responded by agreeing to halve the cost of a 12-minute phone call to $3 from February 2025. We will continue to advocate for people in prison to be able to connect with their friends and family without steep costs.