Sisters Inside is an Australian registered charity which supports and advocates for criminalised women and girls and their children. It is based in Queensland, with offices in Brisbane and Townsville.
The human rights activist and lawyer
Debbie Kilroy is the founder and CEO of the organisation.
Sisters Inside describes itself as a grassroots organisation run by criminalised women for the benefit of "all of us inside".
In its advocacy work, it calls for decarceration and
prison abolition
The police and prison abolition movement is a political movement, mostly active in the United States, that advocates replacing policing and prison system with other systems of public safety. Police and prison abolitionists believe that policing a ...
. The daily work of the organisation focuses on providing support to incarcerated and criminalised women, with a focus on supporting First Nations women.
History
Sisters Inside's founder Debbie Kilroy has a long history of experience with the criminal justice system and incarceration, starting at the age of 13. She began her advocacy work in the early 1990s while incarcerated as part of a prisoners' committee. Upon her release on parole in 1992 she formed Sisters Inside with other women.
In 2019, Sisters Inside started a campaign called #FreeHer raising funds to pay fines of Aboriginal women in Western Australia who were imprisoned or at risk of imprisonment for non-payment of fines. The campaign received support from celebrities including
Yael Stone
Yael Stone is an Australian actress. She has worked extensively in Australian theatre and has won two Sydney Theatre Awards. On screen, she is best known for her portrayal of Lorna Morello in the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black''. Ston ...
and
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...
. By June 2019, it had raised $400,000.
References
{{ref list
Non-profit organisations based in Queensland