Behind the Walls
Department of Communities and Justice
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Behind the Walls is a ground-breaking six-part podcast series that for the first time takes listeners on a journey into NSW prisons and parole offices. Podcast host Michael Duffy, a crime author and former journalist, spent six months recording the interviews at 11 correctional centres and four Community Corrections offices, where staff manage offenders on community orders. Thirty correctional officers from prisons including Bathurst, Lithgow, Cessnock, Cooma and Long Bay share their stories of what really happens when people are sentenced to prison.
Available episodes
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Apr 14, 2021
Parole
Would you be willing to inspect the house of a convicted criminal? Have a one-on-one conversation with a parolee about their past trauma?
In the sixth and final episode of Behind the Walls: Parole, crime author and former journalist Michael Duffy meets parole officers including Grace Wong, who has one of the most challenging jobs in corrections.
“We do get a lot of clients who walk through the door with histories of childhood trauma, sexual abuse, exposure to violence at an early age and domestic violence,” Grace says.
“I think a lot of the trauma that clients go through and their abuse history contributes to the reasons why they end up in our system. There are some really sad stories that walk through the door.”
_Behind the Walls_ is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.
Host: Michael Duffy
Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork
With thanks to the following guests: Don Sword, Clare McRae, Andy McClintock, Jessie Slattery-McDonald, Grace Wong and Ellen McCarroll.
We are grateful for the assistance of staff at the State Parole Authority, Long Bay Correctional Complex, the Electronic and External Monitoring Group, the Terrorism, Sex and Violent Offenders Group, and Hornsby and St Leonards Community Corrections.
For more stories on prison and parole:
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podcast@justice.nsw.gov.au
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Apr 7, 2021
The Blue and the Green
A prison officer reveals how an inmate saved his life from a brutal bashing by a criminal gang.
In the fifth episode of _Behind the Walls: The Blue and the Green_, crime journalist and former author Michael Duffy talks to Long Bay’s Paul Coyne about the often surprising interactions between officers and inmates.
“Mutual respect between inmates and officers is really important and I honestly believe that it pretty much saved my life,” Paul says.
“I was being assaulted at Long Bay when an inmate heard it happening, so he stuck his head out and called for help to my colleagues.
“Then he came flying up and belted one of the inmates so hard I thought he had killed him – he went down like a sack of potatoes – and then he turned to the other two and said, ‘Don’t you ever lay a hand on Mr Coyne again’.”
_Behind the Walls_ is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.
Host: Michael Duffy
Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork
With thanks to the following guests: Angela Feeney, Paul Coyne, Lee Caines, Belinda McInnes, Craig Smith, Rowena Mustard, Adam Schreiber, Nick da Costa, James Duckworth and Mark Kennedy.
We are grateful for the assistance of staff at the Metropolitan Special Programs Centre, Dawn De Loas, Cessnock, Lithgow, Emu Plains and Macquarie correctional centres.
For more stories on prison and parole:
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Contact us:
podcast@justice.nsw.gov.au
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Mar 31, 2021
Rehabilitation
A prison governor becomes good mates with a former inmate and even gives a speech at his wedding.
In the fourth episode of _Behind the Walls: Rehabilitation_, crime author and former journalist Michael Duffy talks to former inmate Damian Cuff about the friendship he has formed with Governor Mark Kennedy.
Damian spent 19 years in-and-out of prison for a range of crimes including armed robbery, kidnapping and drug use.
“Normally blokes get out and they go back to the same area, the same people that they always hung with and got in trouble with,” Damian says.
“I was given an opportunity before I got out here. I did works release and I still work for that company now - they offered me a position if I was willing to stay in Bathurst and what better opportunity than to start fresh.
“I’m still mates with Kenno (Mark) because Kenno, he knew about me, but he didn’t want to make me feel like I was a criminal, or I was different. I was just one of the boys playing football.”
_Behind the Walls_ is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.
Host: Michael Duffy
Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork
With thanks to the following guests: Wayne Bywater, Jacqueline Forbes, Karen Allen, India McMillan, Mark Kennedy, Rowena Mustard, Charles Heath and Damian Cuff.
We are grateful for the assistance of staff at Glen Innes, Cessnock, Dawn de Loas, Macquarie, Bathurst, Cooma and Kirkconnell correctional centres.
For more stories on prison and parole:
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Contact us:
podcast@justice.nsw.gov.au
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Mar 24, 2021
Daily Life
If you treat inmates like animals, they’ll act like animals. What happens when they get out of jail? Would you want them living in your suburb?
In the third episode of _Behind the Walls: Daily Life_, crime author and former journalist Michael Duffy learns how inmates – and staff – spend a typical day at prisons including Cessnock, Dawn de Loas and Bathurst correctional centres.
Macquarie Correctional Centre prison officer Liz Sears tells Michael:
“Essentially our job as a prison officer is to make our community safer, and in order to do that we need to give these inmates as much chance as possible to re-enter society and be safe, because they will be living next door to us.
“We are not giving them any more than what they deserve or any more than anyone else on the outside deserves, we are just giving our community as a whole, the chance to be safe.”
_Behind the Walls_ is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.
Host: Michael Duffy
Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork
With thanks to the following guests: Charles Heath, Craig Smith, Paul Coyne, Angela Feeney, Liz Sears, Faith Slatcher, Mick Chesworth and Glen Wharton.
We are grateful for the assistance of staff at Glen Innes, Cessnock, Dawn de Loas, Macquarie, Bathurst, Cooma and Kirkconnell correctional centres.
For more stories on prison and parole:
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube or Twitter
Listen on Simplecast
Contact us:
podcast@justice.nsw.gov.au
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Mar 17, 2021
Security
Would you believe that some inmates actually ask to be sent to Australia’s toughest and most regimented prison, Supermax?
In the second episode of _Behind the Walls: Security_, crime author and former journalist Michael Duffy learns about prison-yard hierarchies and how to stop inmates from attacking each other.
“There’s no doubt that security is the core function of a prison, but security means much more than just locking people up and watching them from towers so they don’t escape,” Michael says.
“It means keeping inmates from attacking each other, or rioting, or attacking our officers or prison property.
“That means our officers need to know what’s going on among the inmate population. To do that, they have to walk among the inmates, talk to them, gather and respond to intelligence.”
_Behind the Walls_ is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.
Host: Michael Duffy
Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork
With thanks to the following guests: Dale Ashcroft, Craig Smith, Angela Feeney, Lee Caines, Sarah, Shae Field, Andrew Guffogg, Todd Williams, Paul Coyne.
We are grateful for the assistance of staff at Cooma, Dawn De Loas, Lithgow, Bathurst, Kirkconnell and Cessnock correctional centres.
For more stories on prison and parole:
Like us on Facebook
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Listen on Simplecast
Contact us:
podcast@justice.nsw.gov.au
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Mar 13, 2021
The Job
Meet the prison officers who manage Australia’s worst criminals and you’ll soon learn why they hate being called ‘guards’.
In this first episode of _Behind the Walls: The Job_, crime author and former journalist Michael Duffy takes listeners inside Bathurst, Wellington and Lithgow correctional centres to hear from officers about what it’s really like inside NSW prisons.
Michael spent six months recording the series at 11 correctional centres and four Community Corrections offices.
“I was a court reporter for years but I had no idea what happened to convicted offenders when they were taken off to prison – like many people, I was just glad it was someone else’s job to look after them,” he says.
“Also, like many people, I thought prison was just about locks and security. For this podcast, I’ve gone to talk with real prison officers and discovered that their jobs – and they themselves – are about much more than that.”
_Behind the Walls_ is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.
Host: Michael Duffy
Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork
With thanks to the following guests: Sarah, Mark Kennedy, Faith Slatcher, Lee Caines, Craig Smith, Andrew Guffogg and Nick da Costa.
We are grateful for the assistance of staff at Bathurst, Wellington and Lithgow correctional centres.
For more stories on prison and parole:
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube or Twitter
Listen on Simplecast
Contact us:
podcast@justice.nsw.gov.au
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Feb 28, 2021
Behind the Walls Trailer
Listen in to the trailer for Behind the Walls, a ground-breaking six-part podcast series that for the first time takes listeners on a journey into NSW prisons and parole offices.
The six-part series will launch on Sunday 14 March with new episodes dropping every Thursday.
Podcast host Michael Duffy, a crime author and former journalist, spent six months recording the interviews at 11 correctional centres and four Community Corrections offices, where staff manage offenders on community orders.
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