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Victoria

Snapshot at 30 June, 2016

• The number of adult prisoners in Victorian prisons was 6,522, an increase of 5% (303 prisoners) from 2015. (Table 14)

• The adult imprisonment rate was 138 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 134 in 2015. (Table 18)

• Half (50% or 3,246 prisoners) of all prisoners had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 13)

• The most common offence/charge was acts intended to cause injury (18% or 1,175 prisoners), followed by illicit drug offences (14% or 931 prisoners) and sexual assault (13% or 845 prisoners). (Table 15)

• Males comprised 93% (6,091 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 13)

• Since June 30 2015, the male imprisonment rate increased from 256 to 264 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population, while the female rate remained steady at 18 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 14)

• The median age of adult prisoners was 36 years of age, which was the highest median age of all states and territories (along with South Australia). (Table 13)

• Overseas born prisoners accounted for 25% (1,619 prisoners) of the Victorian prisoner population. This was the largest proportion of overseas born prisoners of any state or territory. (Table 21)

• The largest proportion of overseas born prisoners was from Vietnam (329 prisoners or 20% of overseas born prisoners) followed by New Zealand (173 prisoners or 11% of overseas born prisoners). (Table 21)

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 8% (535 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. This was the smallest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners of any state or territory. (Table 13)

• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was 12 times the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (1,565 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 133 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 17)

• Unsentenced prisoners comprised 29% (1,880 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. This proportion has increased from 19% over the past decade. (Tables 13 and 14)

• The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 2.1 months. Time on remand as reported in the Prisoner Census is time spent on remand as at 30 June 2016, and not the total time on remand. Time on remand is influenced by a number of factors, particularly the time it takes for a case to come before a court. (Table 31)

• The median aggregate sentence length of sentenced prisoners was 3.5 years. (Table 25)