Staying Connected: How Phone Calls Help Prisoners Rebuild Lives

An upgrade to the Prisoner Telephone System in Queensland correctional centres will mean cheaper, clearer and easier phone calls to family and friends.

Upgrades on the way

Significant improvements are on the way for the Prisoner Telephone System.

• Clearer, high-quality calls: the move to a digital system means the calls will be clearer.
• Greater availability: more phones will be installed throughout Queensland’s correctional centres to make it easier for prisoners to stay in touch.
• Increased security: The upgraded system will have enhanced security and intelligence features. This will help us protect victims of crime and prevent further offending by telephone.

Cheaper call rates

Another benefit of the upgrade is a reduction in call costs, making it easier for prisoners to stay connected.

• Local call rates will drop by 25%.
• National calls will be 20% cheaper.
• Calls to mobile phones will be almost halved (reduced by 49%).

Calls to mobile phones will be charged per second, so prisoners only pay for the time they actually use.

Calls to numbers of the Common Auto Dial List, such as the Queensland Ombudsman or Legal Aid Queensland, are always free.

The fixed-line local call rate reduction will apply to all correctional centres from now, with the upgrade to reduce national and mobile phone calls rolled out to correctional centres around the state over the next 12 months.

How does the prisoner phone system work?

Maintaining strong connections with family and friends is a key factor in helping prisoners turn their lives around. One of the ways they can do this is through regular phone calls.

Hearing the voices of their loved ones encourages prisoners to choose a better path, reducing the likelihood of reoffending.

In 2023-24, prisoners in Queensland made over 7.7 million calls, spending 66,500 hours talking to family, friends, and legal services.

Queensland’s prisoner phone system, which started in 1996, allows prisoners to make calls using money from their trust accounts. They can call approved numbers at any time from their units, except when they’re in their cells, working, or attending education or rehabilitation programs.

Before a new number is added to a prisoner’s call list, it goes through various checks to ensure the recipient wants to be contacted and that there are no court orders preventing the contact. All personal calls to friends and family are recorded and may be monitored if necessary. Legal calls, and calls to numbers on the Common Auto Dial List, are not recorded.

Queensland Correctional Services (QCS) is dedicated to helping prisoners rehabilitate and reducing crime. By making phone calls to family and friends more accessible, QCS is supporting prisoners in building strong support networks that can help them succeed after release.