The Torch is a not for profit First Nations-led arts organisation that provides art, cultural, and arts industry support to First Nations people who are currently incarcerated or have recently been released from prisons in Victoria.

The core business of The Torch is to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within Victoria’s legal system through its Statewide Indigenous Arts In Prisons and Community Program.

First Nations Australians make up 3% of the Australian population yet represent 32% of the national adult prison population. Indigenous men are 17 times more likely to go to prison than non-Indigenous men and First Nations women are 25 times more likely to go to prison than non-Indigenous women.

Since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991, incarceration rates for Indigenous Australians have more than doubled and deaths in custody have continued to increase.

The Torch’s vision is to support First Nations people to reclaim cultural connections through art and cultural practice. This enables personal and community healing and empowerment coupled with economic elevation through connection to the arts industry. Recidivism rates have more than halved for those connected to the program.

The Torch assists artists to reconnect with culture and earn income from art sales (with 100% of the artwork price going directly to the artist), licensing, special projects and exhibitions including our major annual exhibitions, Confined and Future Dreaming.

I don’t think you should underestimate the power of culture in the rehabilitation process for Indigenous offenders. We work from a cultural basis to then express that through art-making — to try to reconnect some of the fragments of cultural dislocation and put the pieces back together.

Kent Morris, Barkindji, The Torch CEO

There are many ways you can get involved in The Torch’s work and do your part for the First Nations people in our in-prison and post-release programs.

The Torch Gallery
146 Elgin St
Carlton VIC 3053