Crim Con 2026, 26 - 27 June - Not just a conference but a space to hear from criminalised and formerly incarcerated people. Crim Con 2026! 26-27 June

Why Prison Reform Doesn’t Work.

Join us for this conference by criminalised and formerly incarcerated people.

Art / music / poetry exhibition - We Are More Than What They Did To Us - Fri 26th June 6-9pm.

The opening night of Crim Con is a community-led cultural gathering that centres the voices, stories and creative expression of community members through art, music, poetry and shared space we create a room grounded in lived experience, one that refuses silence, challenges stigma, and honours the complexity of our lives.

Before panels and before analysis, we begin with people, including:

Music by Nancy Bates (award-winning Barkindji singer-songwriter, musician, and social activist)
Silent Rhymes (South Australian hip hop artist)
Poetry by Matcho Cassidy, Fig Henry Kershaw and others.

Non-alcoholic drinks provided on Friday.

Panels / speakers / workshops - Sat 27th June 11am-6pm.

Presentations by Debbie Kilroy (Sisters Inside), Tabitha Lean (Sisters Inside), Samantha Burns (National Network of Incarcerated & Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls), Brett Collins (Justice Action), Dan Vansetten (Level Up), Daniel Chung (DC Boxing & Performance), Sam Narroway (Second Chances), and more.
Workshops include song-writing with Nancy Bates, zine making, interactive art sessions, and an introduction to using Freedom of Information.

Light lunch and non-alcoholic drinks provided on Saturday.

More program details coming soon.

Join us for a weaving workshop, while sharing stories and ideas about building a world beyond punishment and prisons, creating a space to dream about freedom and build community care - facilitated by Tabitha Lean (member of the The National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and the national Abolition in Practice Network). 

Tues Dec 3rd, 6pm @ Intersection Traders

Free w/ optional $5 donation for materials

Venue is wheelchair accessible, but unfortunately does not have accessible toilets. The nearest accessible toilets are 200m away at the OTR. If you have any suggestions for accessible, free/low cost venues please do reach out as we recognise that this is a barrier for members of our community.

N95 masks are strongly encouraged for all who can wear them. However, as we are an unfunded group, we do not have the capacity to pay for masks for all attendees. We will have a small number available if you forget yours, but please BYO own mask.

There are a few ways you can sending some solidarity to folks incarcerated in the Adelaide Women’s Prison this holiday period.

We are hoping to pull together messages of solidarity for all 272 humans detained in the AWP this Christmas. We know its super late notice, but we only just found out the program has the go-ahead this year and need all cards back by the night of Tuesday 10th.

A huge thanks to all who came out to Tuesday’s Yarn and Weave workshop, where we unpacked what we mean by prison/carceral abolition, carceral logics and the ways they infuse all of ours lives, whether we are criminalised or not, and why it is so important that we challenge these and building practices of transformative justice and community care in ours lives. For those who missed out, we will be hosting another similar workshop in the new year.

As discussed on Tuesday, there are a few ways you can sending some solidarity to folks incarcerated in the Adelaide Women’s Prison this holiday period.

We are hoping to pull together messages of solidarity for all 272 humans detained in the AWP this Christmas. We know its super late notice, but we only just found out the program has the go-ahead this year and need all cards back by the night of Tuesday 10th

How you can get involved:

Attend the card writing meet up next week (drop in from 6-9pm Tuesday the 10th at Intersection Traders), pop into the Adelaide Bike Kitchen/Duck Radio (details attached), write some by yourself OR host your own meet up.

Do you have a team meeting, a network, a friends potluck, a Christmas party, a family dinner, a child’s kindergarten (children’s drawings are particularly treasured) that you could tap into to help us achieve this goal?

Venue is wheelchair accessible, but unfortunately does not have accessible toilets. The nearest accessible toilets are 200m away at the OTR. If you have any suggestions for accessible, free/low cost venues please do reach out as we recognise that this is a barrier for members of our community.

Critically examine why certain phrases become popular, who they benefits, and what happens when campaigns stop at reform over transformation

An abolitionist, creative workshop designed to unsettle the “common sense” slogans that dominate reform campaigns, charity branding, political messaging, and NGO advocacy.

By RAD Faction