The world’s first ‘rehab radio’ coming ‘Straight Outta Cobham’ Youth Justice Centre in south west Sydney is rewriting futures – but needs more funding to survive.
The world’s first 24/7 in-room ‘rehab radio’ station for young Australians in youth detention is broadcasting straight out of south west Sydney – and already changing lives.
Futures Radio, the groundbreaking initiative, is designed to curb reoffending by replacing silence, isolation and negative influences with music, mentoring and purpose.
Developed by Penrith charity Musicians Making a Difference (MMAD), and co-created with detainees for detainees, it’s the world’s first 24/7 in-room rehab radio service.
Currently running in Cobham Youth Justice Centre in Werrington, it’s where Penrith meets Tupac, freestyles meet fresh starts, and tuning into the studio for second chances.
Its mission is simple but powerful: turn time inside into a turning point.
“Futures Radio is proving that what we listen to is what we become,” says MMAD co-founder Dominic Brook, from East Blaxland.
“By providing daily access to mentorship, creativity and purpose, Futures Radio offers precisely the kind of constructive community activity proven to reduce re-offending.”
Research shows positive youth development programs that focus on belonging, skill-building and caring adult connections significantly improve self-esteem, problem-solving and long-term behaviour change – all key to reducing recidivism.
It’s already rewriting futures.
One young man reached out the day of his release. He’s now studying journalism and radio at university, and another has entered into the MMAD Sony Star program – just two of many inspiring examples of its impact.
MMAD co-founder Dominic Brook and Futures mentor Jordan on Seven’s Sunrise
Where music meets mental health support, the station blends hip-hop, storytelling and mentors from those with lived-experience, creating a powerful loop of peer-to-peer mentorship.
Programs include freestyle journaling, career pathways, transformation stories and practical help for life after release, with guests and mentors who have lived similar lives – and rebuilt them.
Among them are ‘Mouseman’ (Dana Smith), Tupac Shakur’s childhood best friend, who is in Sydney this year and is friends with MMAD’s Koori Radio DJ Izzy (Jacob Dylan).
He was interviewed on-air for Futures Radio with NSW Youth Justice Minister Jihad Dib, sparking an impromptu freestyle about how to live better lives.
Mouseman revealed how the rappers landed their first record deal at just 13, sharing raw stories of gang life in Baltimore, Tupac being bullied, and rapping about teenage pregnancies. “The first time I met the boys, it hit me hard,” Mouseman tells CL. “I’ve been in their shoes.
“We connected instantly, even though I’m 9,000 miles from home and was born in, like the 1900s! I see huge potential in these boys.
“When people ask me what Tupac’s legacy is, I tell them – it’s this – Futures Radio.”
Former inmate-turned-entrepreneur, Danny Shannon, is a Futures mentor. He once escaped Silverwater Jail by jumping over a 24-foot barbed wire fence ‘just to get high basically.’ Danny says: “Futures is more than just a radio station. It’s a lifeline.
“If I’d heard messages like this when I was young, my life would have gone very differently.”
For many detainees, like MJ,* they say it’s the first time they’ve heard adults who truly understand them, calling Futures ‘mindblowing.’
“We identified with Mouseman. He was so honest – about gang life, and spoke frankly about our heroes, like Tupac, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Suge Knight and NWA.
“People like him and Minister Dib showing interest and believing in us gives us hope.
“As a kid, I never had the confidence to speak out because I didn’t have the support. Now, instead of planning our next hits, Futures is showing us we can have one.
“I can run a business – it’s why I’m here. Now, I’m determined to get out, become a Futures mentor and start a national plumbing business.
“That way, I can provide support, jobs – and for the first time in their lives, a future.”
For two decades, the charity has worked across Australia to break cycles of disadvantage through music, mentoring, education and pathways to employment and housing.
A second Futures Radio station has just launched at Orana Youth Justice Centre, funded through a three-month pilot and run by young men relocated from Cobham on release.
“Our goal was to replace the silence of the cell with 24/7 curated, positive and culturally empowering audio,” adds Dom. “We hoped they’d tune in for one hour a week.
“We’re averaging 14 (hours), and the young men are growing in confidence, self-worth and skills.
“Futures is more than just a radio station. It’s a lifeline.”
Danny Shannon
“They’re finding a reason to believe their future can be better than their past.
“Every young person on the program reports feeling more hopeful, confident and ready for real-world careers.”
He knows firsthand how music and just having one person believing in you can change everything, adding, “I was always in trouble as a kid.
“Then a neighbour gave me a guitar. It transformed my life. When someone believes in your potential, it makes a huge difference.
“I knew then that music could give young people a voice – like it gave me.”
One of the clearest examples of that transformation is Jordan, now 24 – a Futures mentor, rapper, father and rising TikTok star.
Bounced through care homes from just seven, he says they were so abusive, “I‘d memorise signposts to the train station and run away any chance I got, trying to get home to mum.
“But well-meaning strangers would call the police, who took me back.”
He never did, and was on drugs by 13 and in juvenile detention (‘juvie’) by 14. “I didn’t know how to break the pattern. Music was the only thing that made sense – especially Eminem. I listened 24/7.”
Homeless at 19 after his grandmother threw out his only possession – his prized duffle bag containing his years of music and certificates in logistics and engineering – he found MMAD.
The charity supported his release from jail at 20 and now, just four years later, he’s mentoring others – and has exploded on social media, clocking up 30 million views in three months.
“When people truly believe in your capabilities, it’s life-changing,” he says.
“MMAD gave me a voice when I had none. Now I’m helping others find theirs.”
Minister Dib says: “Futures represents the shift the system urgently needs.
“It’s only by working with young people to find new pathways to the future that we can truly reduce reoffending.”
Tupac’s best friend Dana ‘Mouseman’ Smith and NSW Youth Justice Minister Jihad Dib sparked an impromptu freestyle on-air
DESPITE ITS SUCCESS, FUTURES RADIO IS AT RISK
Tonight, nearly 900 young Australians are in youth detention, mostly males aged 14 to 17 with the same blueprint.
Early trauma, disrupted schooling, fractured families, minimal support and intervention, countless juvie stints, drugs, poverty, addiction, and usually the same ending – jail.
Data shows up to 85% of detainees released from youth justice centres will be back inside within 12 months of release.
Cobham staff and detainees rank Futures Radio among the most effective and engaging programs in the centre, and MMAD co-founder Dominic Brook’s goal is to roll it out to all 21 NSW Youth Justice Centres by 2030.
But it’s at risk, as funding runs out in June – and MMAD is appealing to philanthropists and corporates.
At just $100,000 per centre per year, Futures Radio is a fraction of the $1 million per detainee it costs taxpayers.
Dom says $900,000 over three years would support 30+ young people with mentoring, education and employment – delivering an estimated $29 million in social and economic value.
“That’s a 30-times return on investment,” he says. “Our vision is for former detainees to run it once released.
“By providing daily access to mentorship, creativity and purpose, Futures Radio offers precisely the kind of constructive community activity proven to reduce reoffending.”
In a system desperate for solutions, Futures Radio is already delivering one – on air, every day.
The only question now is whether it will be given the funding to keep changing lives.
If you can help, contact Dominic Brook directly: dominic@mmad.com.au
