The Job
03/13/21 • 23 min
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:
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:
Previous Episode
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.
Next Episode
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
Follow us on Instagram, YouTube or Twitter
Listen on Simplecast
Contact us:
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