Roebourne Prison: Broadcasting from inside to the world

If you’ve read part 1 of this story Roebourne Prison – inmate health and wellbeing by radio, you will want to know what the future holds for Roebourne Regional Prison Show.

CEO of Ngaarda Media in Roebourne, Tangiora Hinaki, has great plans for the future.

‘A couple of years ago, the Director of Services Commissioner, Tony Hassell made a statement on radio that he’d like to see a radio station inside the prison and for Ngaarda Media to support inmates who wanted to have their own shows to broadcast,’ Tangiora said.

That evolution now means that Ngaarda Media goes in once a week and helps the inmates produce a show which is then edited and vetted before being played across the Pilbara and Australia via the First Nations Media Network and around the world.

And the evolution continues with the prison having its own recording and broadcasting equipment.

‘The equipment has arrived,’ Tangiora said.

‘Once it’s installed, we’ll kick off weekly training sessions where they will be able to broadcast themselves, with their own voices to the audience on the outside.’

Prisons, when run properly, are places of rehabilitation where inmates take stock and re-evaluate their lives, and where possible, learn a skill.

‘The next part of this expansion is to go into the prison and deliver a Certificate IV in Radio Production, so that those who are truly passionate to tell stories like Black Lives Matter, Deaths in Custody and all those issues which impact First Nations, will get an opportunity when they come out for us or other stations to employ them,’ Tangiora said.

Ngaarda Media also runs a program which is quite unique. Roebourne prison has certified the station to receive inmates, accompanied by a security guard, who can visit the radio station to be trained and produce their own show.

‘Before COVID last year, we had our first inmate come out and do a Rhythm & Blues show. So it was her own voice on air, her own songs and she was pressing the buttons. That’s another exciting project we want to get up and running again post COVID.’

The next thing Tangiora wants to do is work collaboratively with the prison radio network which has been set up under the Community Broadcast Association of Australia.

‘Also we want to connect with First Nations media who do radio programs across the nation. We could do a documentary in the future. An episode could be produced in each state by prisoners who want to share their story, to educate listeners to not go down that prisoner’s path but to live their best life,’ Tangiora said.

Finally, there is a possibility that Roebourne Prison might have its own ‘internal’ show one day, inmates producing content for inmates. And in time, Ngaarda Radio will be available in the prison 7 days a week.

Indigenous.gov.au congratulates Tangiora Hinaki and everybody involved, both at Roebourne Prison and Ngaarda Media.