SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

PERSONS IN CORRECTIVE SERVICES

The Corrective Services, Australia publication presents data for two different populations; persons in full-time custody and persons in community-based corrections. These populations cannot be compared directly, however they are presented together to provide an overview of persons in corrective services. For the community-based corrections population, offenders may be counted more than once if they have two or more different types of community-based corrections orders operating simultaneously.

	Jun Qtr 17	Mar Qtr 17 to Jun Qtr 17 % change	Jun Qtr 16 to Jun Qtr 17 % change
Persons in full-time custody	41,204	1.5%	6.5%
Persons in community-based corrections	67,991	1.0%	4.6%

PERSONS IN CUSTODY

In the June quarter 2017, the average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia was 41,204. This was an increase of:
· 2% (627 persons) from the March quarter 2017; and
· 7% (2,519 persons) from the June quarter 2016.

From the March quarter 2017, there were increases in prisoner numbers across all states and territories except for South Australia and Northern Territory, which decreased 1% and 2% respectively. (Table 1)

In the last five years (from June quarter 2012 to June quarter 2017), the number of persons in custody has increased 40% or 11,722 persons. (Table 1 of Time series datacube)



In the June quarter 2017, the largest contributors to the national prisoner population were:
· New South Wales (32% or 13,146 persons);
· Queensland (21% or 8,479 persons);
· Victoria (17% or 7,091 persons); and
· Western Australia (16% or 6,756 persons). (Table 1)

Sex

The average daily number of females and males in custody both increased since the June quarter 2016, with females increasing at a higher percentage (10% or 302 persons) than males (6% or 2,218 persons). (Table 1)

A similar pattern can also be seen over the past five years with females increasing by 57% (1,229 persons) and males by 38% (10,493 persons). (Table 2 of Time series datacube)

For the June quarter 2017, the average daily imprisonment rate for males was 406 persons per 100,000 adult male population, which was approximately 12 times the rate for females (35 female persons per 100,000 adult female population). (Table 5)

Type of full-time custody

Prisoners can be housed in either:
· Secure custody, where they are held in medium or maximum security custodial facilities requiring them to be confined by a secure physical barrier; or
· Open custody, where they are housed in minimum security custodial facilities that do not require them to be confined by a secure parameter or physical barrier, irrespective of whether a physical barrier exists.

During the June quarter 2017, 79% of prisoners in full-time custody were held in secure custody and the remaining 21% in open custody, representing an average daily number of 32,701 and 8,503 persons, respectively.

Both the secure and open custody populations increased over the year since the June quarter 2016, up 8% (2,345 persons) and 2% (174 persons) respectively. (Table 6)

Legal status

Legal status refers to where a person may be either sentenced or unsentenced depending on the warrant(s) or court order(s) that provide the legal basis for the administration of the person through the criminal justice system.

In the June quarter 2017, the average number of full-time prisoners on the first day of the month was 41,196, of which:
· 67% (27,613) were sentenced; and
· 33% (13,503) were unsentenced. (Table 8)

Nationally, unsentenced prisoners increased 2% over the quarter (321 persons) and 11% (1,344 persons) over the year. (Table 8)

Sentenced prisoner receptions

Sentenced prisoner receptions refer to:
· persons entering into corrective services custody from the community, having received a sentence of imprisonment as an outcome of a court proceeding;
· persons who are sentenced to custody while in custody on remand (i.e. changed legal status from an unsentenced to a sentenced prisoner); and
· persons entering custody as a result of defaulting on the payment of a fine.

Sentenced prisoners in custody who receive a further sentence of imprisonment are not counted as sentenced receptions.

In the June quarter 2017, there were 10,869 sentenced prisoner receptions into full-time prison custody in Australia, representing an increase of 4% (429 persons) from the March quarter 2017 and an increase of 8% (785 persons) for the year. (Table 10)

Federal prisoners

Federal prisoners are persons charged and sentenced under a Commonwealth statute or transferred from another country to serve their sentence in Australia.

During the June quarter 2017, the average daily number of federal sentenced prisoners in Australia was 992, an increase of 2% (20 persons) from the June quarter 2016. (Table 11)

Rates per 100,000 adult population

Nationally, the average daily imprisonment rate remained steady in the June quarter 2017 at 217 persons per 100,000 adult population. The Northern Territory continued to have the highest imprisonment rate of all states and territories with 904 persons per 100,000 adult population, followed by Western Australia, with 342 persons per 100,000 adult population.

Tasmania had the lowest average daily imprisonment rate (144 persons per 100,000 adult population). (Table 3)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners

The average daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners during the June quarter 2017 was 11,411 persons. This represented an increase of 1% (123 persons) over the quarter and an increase of 7% (693 persons) over the year. (Table 1)

Based on first day of the month figures, there were 11,456 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners in the June quarter 2017, of which 67% (7,689 persons) were sentenced and 33% (3,735 persons) were unsentenced. The number of unsentenced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners increased by 12% (407 persons) from the June quarter 2016, in line with the 11% annual increase seen in the total unsentenced prisoner population. (Table 8 and 14)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners represented 28% of the total full-time adult prisoner population (during the June quarter 2017), whilst accounting for approximately 2% of the total Australian population aged 18 years and over (based on Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0) and Estimates and Projections, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2001 to 2026 (cat. no. 3238.0)). (Table 1)

Three states continue to account for nearly three-quarters of the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoner population: New South Wales (28% or 3,233 persons); Queensland (24% or 2,724 persons); and Western Australia (22% or 2,542 persons). (Table 1)

The national average daily Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate was 2,456 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. The highest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rates were recorded in:

· Western Australia (4,108 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population);
· Northern Territory (2,826 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population); and
· South Australia (2,720 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population). (Table 13)

Since the June quarter 2016, only the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory had a decrease in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate, both decreasing by 4% (or 132 and 88 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, respectively). (Table 13)

PERSONS IN COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS

All reported daily averages for number of persons serving community-based corrections orders are based on first day of the month figures. For more information, please refer to the Explanatory Notes, paragraphs 2 and 12.

Community-based corrections orders are non-custodial orders served under the authority of adult corrective services agencies and include restricted movement, reparations (fine options and community service), supervision orders (parole, bail, sentenced probation) and post-sentence supervision orders.

Number of persons in community-based corrections

The average daily number of persons serving community-based corrections orders in the June quarter 2017 was 67,991 persons, representing:
· an increase of 1% (695 persons) from the March quarter 2017; and
· an increase of 5% (3,014 persons) from the June quarter 2016. (Table 1)



Three states accounted for over three-quarters of the national number of persons in community-based corrections:
· Queensland (29% or 19,752 persons);
· New South Wales (28% or 19,193 persons); and
· Victoria (21% or 14,176 persons). (Table 1)

Between the June quarter 2012 and the June quarter 2017, persons serving community-based corrections orders increased 26% or 13,807 persons. Since March quarter 2015 persons serving community-based corrections orders increased 21% (11,996 persons). (Table 4 of Time series datacube)

Sex

In the June quarter 2017, males accounted for 81% (54,786 persons) of the total persons serving community-based correction orders and females the remaining 19% (13,187). (Table 16)

As with persons in custody, females serving community-based correction orders have increased at a higher level than males since the June quarter 2012. Females serving community-based corrections orders increased 35% or 3,400 persons, while males increased 24% or 10,435. (Table 5 of Time Series datacube)

Type of orders

In the June quarter 2017, the three most prevalent order types in Australia were:
· Sentenced probation (56% or 41,156 persons);
· Parole (20% or 14,741 persons); and
· Community service orders (15% or 10,850 persons). (Table 18)

Since the June quarter 2016, the number of persons serving all order types has increased except restricted movement. Persons serving sentenced probation orders increased 5% (2,007 persons) over the year, accounting for 68% of the total annual increase in community-based correction orders.

The average daily number of persons on parole was 14,741, up 4% (617 persons) from the June quarter 2016. Nearly two-thirds of the increase was attributable to New South Wales where parole orders went up 8% (399 persons). (Table 18)

Rates per 100,000 adult population

In the June quarter 2017, the daily average national rate of persons in community-based corrections was 358 persons per 100,000 adult population, representing an increase of less than 1% from the March quarter 2017 and an increase of 3% or 10 persons for the year. (Table 17)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons in community-based corrections

Nationally, the average daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons in community-based corrections for the June quarter 2017 was 13,802, representing an increase of 3% (347 persons) from the previous quarter and an increase of 8% (1,061 persons) over the year.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons make up one fifth (20%) of the total community-based corrections population, of which three-quarters were located in three states: Queensland (33% or 4,511 persons), New South Wales (31% or 4,331 persons) and Western Australia (12% or 1,602 persons). (Table 19)