4512.0 - Corrective Services, Australia, Jun 2004

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/09/2004

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Main Features About this Release	NOTES ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION This publication presents information on persons in custody and community-based corrections. The statistics are derived from information provided to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from administrative records held by corrective services agencies in each state and territory, and from the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department for details on federal prisoners. Details are provided for each state and territory on numbers and imprisonment rates by type of custody (i.e. open or secure custody or periodic detention). Information is also presented on prisoner numbers by legal status (sentenced or unsentenced) and by sentence type, for all prisoners and for Indigenous prisoners, together with the number of sentenced receptions into custody and the number of federal prisoners. The ABS acknowledges the valuable contribution of the Board of Management, the Advisory Group of the National Corrective Services Statistics Unit and the staff of the various agencies that provide the statistics that are presented in this publication. CHANGES THIS ISSUE The ABS has temporarily discontinued publication of Indigenous imprisonment rates pending the release of new experimental estimates and projections of the Indigenous population based on the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. These will replace the 1996 Census based series which were previously used as denominators for calculating Indigenous imprisonment rates. Three tables have been omitted from this issue: Indigenous imprisonment rates, Ratio of Indigenous to non-Indigenous rates of imprisonment, and Indigenous imprisonment rates, by legal status and sentence type. See paragraphs 28-29 of the Explanatory Notes for further information. FURTHER INFORMATION More information about ABS activities in the field of crime and justice statistics is available from the Crime and Justice theme page on the ABS web site. Details of other ABS publications relating to Crime and Justice statistics can be found in paragraphs 37-39 of the Explanatory Notes. INQUIRIES For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Nick Skondreas on Melbourne (03) 9615 7381. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS NUMBER OF PRISONERS PERSONS IN PRISON CUSTODY, Average daily number per month The average daily number of prisoners in Australia in the June quarter 2004 was 23,149, an increase of 368 (2%) on the March quarter 2004 and an increase of 642 (3%) in the year since the June quarter 2003. These increases continue the upward trend of average daily prisoner numbers over the last two years. RATES PER 100,000 ADULTS AVERAGE DAILY IMPRISONMENT RATE(a) Nationally, the average daily imprisonment rate was 151 prisoners per 100,000 adult population during the June quarter 2004, an increase of 1% since the June quarter 2003. The Northern Territory had the highest imprisonment rate (513 prisoners per 100,000 adult population), followed by Western Australia (211) and Queensland (180). The Australian Capital Territory (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) and Victoria had the lowest imprisonment rates (76 and 93 prisoners per 100,000 adults respectively). Of all states and territories, the largest proportional increase in imprisonment rates since the June quarter 2003 was recorded in Western Australia (7%). The next highest increase was Tasmania (6%) followed by New South Wales (5%). The Northern Territory recorded a decrease in its imprisonment rate (7%) over the same period. SEX Of the average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia in the June quarter 2004, 21,568 (93%) were male and 1,581 (7%) were female. The average daily imprisonment rate for males was 286 prisoners per 100,000 adult male population. The average daily imprisonment rate for females was 20 prisoners per 100,000 adult female population. Males were 14 times more likely to be in prison than females. INDIGENOUS PRISONERS INDIGENOUS PERSONS IN FULL-TIME CUSTODY In the June quarter 2004, there were 5,083 Indigenous prisoners. The number of Indigenous prisoners has increased by 342 (7%) since the June quarter 2003. Of the 5,083 Indigenous prisoners, 428 (8%) were female. TYPE OF CUSTODY The average daily number of prisoners in secure prison custody in the June quarter 2004 was 16,591 (72% of prisoners in custody). The remaining prisoners were held in open prison custody. Nationally, the proportions of persons held in secure and open prison custody have remained stable over the past year. In the June quarter 2004, all prisoners held in full-time custody in the Australian Capital Territory were in secure custody. In other states and territories, the highest proportions of prisoners held in secure full-time prison custody were recorded in Victoria (90%) and South Australia (89%). The proportion of prisoners in secure full-time prison custody was lowest in New South Wales (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) at 53%. LEGAL STATUS AND SENTENCE TYPE Of the total national population of prisoners in full-time custody on the first day of the month (23,143), the average number of unsentenced prisoners was 4,992 (22%) for the June quarter 2004. The Australian Capital Territory (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) and South Australia had the highest proportions of unsentenced prisoners (35% and 32% respectively). The lowest proportions of unsentenced prisoners were recorded in Western Australia and Victoria (17% and 18% respectively). PERSONS IN PRISON CUSTODY, Proportion unsentenced per month SENTENCED RECEPTIONS There were 6,234 sentenced receptions into full-time custody in Australia in the June quarter 2004. The number of sentenced receptions increased by 581(10%) since the March quarter 2004, and 244 (4%) since the June quarter 2003. PERIODIC DETENTION Periodic detention is a form of custody only used in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. During the June quarter 2004 there was an average daily number of 734 persons in New South Wales and 88 persons in the Australian Capital Territory held in periodic detention. While the rate of imprisonment for periodic detention in the Australian Capital Territory increased by 16% between the June quarters 2003 and 2004, in New South Wales it decreased by 12% during the same period. In the June quarter 2004, 56% of all persons in custody (full-time and periodic detention) in the Australian Capital Territory were in periodic detention. In contrast 8% of all persons in custody in New South Wales were in periodic detention. FEDERAL PRISONERS In the June quarter 2004, there were 679 federal prisoners in Australia, a decrease of 26 (4%) since the June quarter 2003. Of the federal prisoners, more than half were sentenced in New South Wales. PERSONS IN COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS In the June quarter 2004, there were 50,606 persons in community-based corrections in Australia, a decrease of 1% (600 persons) since in the June quarter 2003 (51,206 persons). Rates per 100,000 adults Nationally, the rate of persons in community-based corrections was 330 persons per 100,000 adult population for the June quarter 2004. This is a decrease of 3% since June quarter 2003 (339 persons per 100,000 adults). The largest decrease was in South Australia (11%). The Northern Territory recorded the largest proportional increase (7%). COMMUNITY–BASED CORRECTIONS RATE(a) In the June quarter 2004, the male rate of participation in community-based corrections was 547 per 100,000 adult male population in comparison to 115 females per 100,000 adult female population. Males were five times more likely to be in community-based corrections than females. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.