Best True Crime Podcast, Australian Podcast Awards 2022

Walkley Award for Best Audio Feature 2022

The Walkley Foundation’s Media Diversity Australia Award 2022

Gold, Social Justice category, New York Festivals Radio Award 2022

Gold, Documentary category, Signal Awards 2023

Please note: Contains strong language and adult content. 

Tucked away amongst snow-covered mountains is a tiny Australian town with a dark secret. Journalist Patrick Abboud hears whispers that it was once home to the world’s only 'gay prison'. A prison that specifically incarcerated gay men. His investigation into what happened inside reveals the full story for the first time. This queer true-crime journey takes you from underground nightclubs to hidden sex haunts, to remote parts of New Zealand and England. You’ll find yourself entangled in a police cover up, a case of wrongful conviction and a human experiment that didn’t go to plan. At the centre of it all was a covert government operation to eradicate 'the greatest menace to society': homosexuality. 

Now with a bonus episode, The Runaway: In the first year since the series' release the producers were flooded with new information. This episode features an extraordinary interview with a prison inmate and looks at how he wants to regain his dignity.

Researched, written and produced by Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich. 

Presented by Patrick Abboud. This Audible Original is produced by Lockdown Productions Pty Ltd. 

Patrick Abboud was the Jesse Cox Audio Fellow 2020, with support from its founding sponsor Audible, its production partner Unison Sound and its festival partners Third Coast International Audio Festival and Audiocraft Podcast Festival.

Reporting was also supported by The Walkley Public Fund.