Prisoners in Australia

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Contains information on prisoners who were in custody on 30 June each year. Details include prisoner characteristics, age, sex and Indigenous status

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Reference period
2019
Released
5/12/2019
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Key statistics

From 30 June 2018 to 30 June 2019:

  • The number of adult prisoners increased by less than one per cent to 43,028.
  • The national imprisonment rate was 219 persons per 100,000 adult population, a decrease of 1 per cent.
  • Unsentenced prisoners increased by 3% to 14,210. Victoria had the largest numerical change in unsentenced prisoners, increasing 10% (or 266 prisoners).
  • Sentenced prisoners decreased by 1% to 28,721 prisoners
  • Female prisoners decreased 4% (131 prisoners) to 3,494 prisoners, while male prisoners increased by less than one per cent (195 prisoners). Males continue to comprise the majority of the Australian prisoner population (92% of total prisoners).
     

Prisoner characteristics, Australia

At 30 June 2019:

Key statistics

  • There were 43,028 prisoners, an increase of less than one per cent (54 prisoners) from 30 June 2018.
  • Between 2018 and 2019 the national imprisonment rate decreased by 1% from 221 to 219 prisoners per 100,000 adult population.
  • Two out of three prisoners (67% or 28,721 prisoners) were sentenced, whilst 33% (14,210 prisoners) were unsentenced. (Table 2)
  • The most common offences/charges for prisoners were:
     
    • Acts intended to cause injury (23%);
    • Illicit drug offences (15%);
    • Sexual assault and related offences (13%); and
    • Unlawful entry with intent (10%). (Table 3)
       
  • The offence/charge with the largest numerical increase in prisoners was Sexual assault and related offences, which increased 7% (388 prisoners).
  • The largest numerical decrease in offence type was Unlawful entry with intent, which decreased by 5% (214 prisoners). (Table 3)
     

Sex

  • Males accounted for 92% of all prisoners (39,538 prisoners) and females the remaining 8% (3,494 prisoners). (Table 1)
  • The number of male prisoners increased by less than one per cent (195 prisoners) from 30 June 2018.
  • The number of female prisoners decreased by 4% (131 prisoners). (Table 2)
     
  • Since 30 June 2018, the national male imprisonment rate decreased by less than one per cent to 409 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population; while the female imprisonment rate decreased by 5% to 35 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 15)
  • The most common offences/charges for male prisoners were:
     
    • Acts intended to cause injury (23%);
    • Illicit drug offences (15%); and
    • Sexual assault and related offences (14%).
       
  • The most common offences/charges for female prisoners were:
     
    • Illicit drug offences (22%);
    • Acts intended to cause injury (19%); and
    • Unlawful entry with intent (10%). (Table 1)

Age

  • The median age for male adult prisoners was 35 years of age, whilst the median age for females was 34 years of age.
  • The median age of prisoners has increased from 33 years to 35 years over the past decade. (Tables 1 & 15)
  • Prisoners with an offence/charge of Sexual assault and related offences had the highest median age (45 years), followed by Homicide and related offences (41 years).
  • Prisoners with an offence/charge of Robbery/extortion had the lowest median age (30 years). (Table 1)
  • Persons aged 30 to 34 years had the highest imprisonment rate (412 prisoners per 100,000 persons aged 30 to 34), followed by persons aged 25 to 29 years (408 prisoners per 100,000 persons aged 25 to 29 years).
  • Persons aged 65 years and over had the lowest imprisonment rate (31 prisoners per 100,000 persons aged 65 years and over). (Table 4)
     

Country of birth

  • Four in every five prisoners were born in Australia (82% or 35,228 prisoners).
  • Overseas born persons accounted for 17% of all prisoners. (Table 22)
  • The most common countries of birth for overseas born prisoners were:
     
    • New Zealand (3% of total prisoners);
    • Vietnam (2%); and,
    • the United Kingdom (1%). (Table 7 & 22)
       
  1. Includes Channel Islands and Isle of Man;
  2. Excludes SARs and Taiwan province;
  3. May include persons born in both Sudan and South Sudan.
     

Sentenced prisoners

  • There were 28,721 sentenced prisoners, a decrease of 1% (309 prisoners) from 30 June 2018. This represents the first decrease in sentenced prisoners since 2011. (Table 2)
  • The proportion of prisoners that were sentenced varied from 58% in the Australian Capital Territory (276 prisoners) to 71% (4,957 prisoners) in Western Australia. (Table 14)
  • The largest numerical decreases in sentenced prisoners were recorded in New South Wales (212 prisoners), Queensland (138 prisoners) and South Australia (106 prisoners). The largest increase was in Victoria (170 prisoners). (Table 27)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for sentenced prisoners was 3.2 years and the median expected time to serve for sentenced prisoners was 2.0 years. (Tables 11 and 12)
  • Just under half of all sentenced prisoners (44% or 12,682) had been sentenced in the previous 12 months. (Table 9)
  • The most common offences for sentenced prisoners were:
     
    • Acts intended to cause injury (18%);
    • Illicit drug offences (15%);
    • Sexual assault and related offences (15%); and
    • Unlawful entry with intent (11%). (Table 1)
       
  1. For a definition of most serious offence, see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge.
  2. Offences against justice procedures, government security and operations.
     
  1. For a definition of most serious offence, see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge.
     
  • The median aggregate sentence length for sentenced prisoners was highest in South Australia (4.4 years) and lowest in the Northern Territory (1.7 years). (Table 24)
     

Unsentenced prisoners

  • There were 14,210 unsentenced prisoners, an increase of 3% (354 prisoners) from 30 June 2018. (Table 2)
     
  • The most common charges for unsentenced prisoners were:
     
    • Acts intended to cause injury (33%);
    • Illicit drug offences (17%); and
    • Sexual assault and related offences (10%). (Table 1)
       
  1. For a definition of most serious charge see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge.
     
  • Median time on remand for unsentenced prisoners was 3.1 months. (Table 32)
     

Most serious offence/charge

The most common offences/charges for all prisoners as of 30 June 2019 were:

  • Acts intended to cause injury (23% or 9,824 prisoners);
  • Illicit drug offences (15% or 6,573 prisoners); and
  • Sexual assault and related offences (13% or 5,671 prisoners). (Table 1)
     

Between 2018 and 2019:

  • The largest increases in the number of prisoners occurred for the following offences:
     
    • Sexual assault and related offences (7% or 388 prisoners);
    • Acts intended to cause injury (2% or 165 prisoners); and
    • Offences against justice (6% or 177 prisoners).
       
  • The largest decreases occurred for the following offences:
     
    • Unlawful entry with intent (5% or 214 prisoners);
    • Illicit drug offences (3% or 206 prisoners); and
    • Robbery/extortion (4% or 143 prisoners). (Table 3)
       

Between 2010 and 2019:

  • Acts intended to cause injury has increased by 69% (or 4,021 prisoners). This remained the most common offence for prisoners in Australia throughout the period.
  • Illicit drug offences was the second most common offence since 2013, increasing by 103% (or 3,340 prisoners).
     
  1. For a definition of most serious offence, see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge.
     

Acts intended to cause injury

  • Males accounted for the majority (93%) of prisoners with this offence.
  • The median age of prisoners with this offence was 33 years. (Table 1)
  • This was the most common offence/charge in every state and territory, other than Western Australia. (Table 16)
  • The majority of prisoners with this offence had prior adult imprisonment under sentence (67% or 6,533 prisoners). (Table 1)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for this offence was 2.0 years. (Table 11)
     

Illicit drug offences

  • Males accounted for the majority (89%) of prisoners with this offence.
  • The median age of prisoners with this offence was 36 years.
  • Most prisoners with this offence were non-Indigenous (93% or 6,117 prisoners).
  • Over one-third (40%) of prisoners with this offence had prior adult imprisonment under sentence. This was lower than national average of prior imprisonment (58%). (Table 1)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for this offence was 5.0 years. (Table 11)
     

Sexual assault and related offences

  • The majority of prisoners with this offence were male (99% or 5,603 prisoners).
  • The median age of prisoners with this offence was 45 years, which was the highest of all offence types.
  • Most prisoners with this offence were non-Indigenous (81% or 4,590 prisoners).
  • Nearly one-third (32%) of prisoners with this offence had prior adult imprisonment under sentence. (Table 1)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for this offence was 7.2 years, which was the second longest of all offences, following Homicide and related offences (17.0 years). (Table 11)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoner characteristics

At 30 June 2019:

Key statistics

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoner numbers increased by three per cent (346 prisoners) from 2018. (Table 2)
     
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners accounted for over a quarter (28%) of the total Australian prisoner population. (Table 1)
  • The most common offence/charge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners was Acts intended to cause injury (34% or 4,105 prisoners) followed by Unlawful entry with intent (14% or 1,681 prisoners). (Table 1)
     
  1. For a definition of most serious offence/charge, see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge.
  2. Offences against justice procedures, government security and operations.
     
  • Three out of four Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners (78% or 9,480 prisoners) had been imprisoned under sentence previously. (Table 29)
     

Sex

  • Nine in ten (90% or 11,012 prisoners) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners were male. (Table 21)
  • The most common offences/charges for both male and female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners were:
     
    • Acts intended to cause injury (34% or 3,732 prisoners and 32% or 371 prisoners, respectively); and
    • Unlawful entry with intent (14% or 1,504 prisoners and 15% or 177 prisoners, respectively). (Table 5)

Age

  • Overall, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners were younger than non-Indigenous prisoners, which follows the same profile from previous years.
  • The median age of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners was 32 years. (Table 1)
     

Sentenced prisoners

  • The median aggregate sentence length for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners was 2.1 years. (Table 11)
  • The median expected time to serve for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners was 1.3 years. (Table 12)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sentenced prisoners was longest in South Australia (3.2 years) and shortest in Northern Territory (1.5 years). (Table 26)
     

Unsentenced prisoners

  • One-third (34%) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners were unsentenced (4,128 prisoners).
  • The most common charge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unsentenced prisoners was Acts intended to cause injury (44% or 1,820 prisoners), followed by Robbery/extortion (10% or 401 prisoners). (Table 9)
  • The median time spent on remand by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unsentenced prisoners was 2.7 months. (Table 13)

States and territories

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

South Australia

Western Australia

Tasmania

Northern Territory

Australian Capital Territory

Federal offender characteristics

Federal prisoners and parolees, selected states and territories, 30 June 2019
State or territoryPrisonersParolees
New South Wales629138
Victoria426n/a
Queensland17040
South Australia3428
Western Australia18416
Tasmania90*
Northern Territory103
Australian Capital Territory80*

*nil or rounded to zero


At 30 June 2019:

  • Males accounted for the majority of federal offenders, with at least nine in ten federal prisoners being male and eight in ten federal parolees being male.
  • The majority of federal prisoners (95%) and federal parolees (98%) were non-Indigenous.
  • The median age for federal prisoners ranged from 37.2 years in South Australia to 41.7 years in Western Australia.
  • New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia accounted for 96% of all federal prisoners. (Table 36)


From 2018 to 2019:

  • The number of federal prisoners decreased by 1% or 10 prisoners.
  • Males decreased by 2% or 23 prisoners, while females increased by 5% or 6 prisoners.
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners decreased by 17% (14 prisoners), while non-Indigenous prisoners increased by less than 1% (2 prisoners).
  • There were increases in Victoria (up 10% or 38 prisoners), Western Australia (up 5% or 9 prisoners) and the Australian Capital Territory (up 60% or 3 prisoners).
  • There were decreases in New South Wales (down 5% or 33 prisoners), Queensland (down 8% or 15 prisoners), Tasmania (down 53% or 10 prisoners) and the Northern Territory (down 23% or 3 prisoners).
  • South Australia remained unchanged at 34 prisoners. (Table 38)
     

Data downloads

Guide to finding data in the prisoners in Australia 2019 publication tables

Data files
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Prisoner characteristics, Australia (Tables 1 to 13)

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Prisoner characteristics, states and territories (Tables 14 to 35)

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Federal Offender Characteristics (Tables 36 to 39)

Data files
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Post release changes

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 4517.0

Methodology

Prisoners in Australia methodology, 2019

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