NOTES
FORTHCOMING ISSUES
| ISSUE (QUARTER) | Release Date |
| December 2006 | 22 March 2007 |
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: prisoner numbers and imprisonment rates by type of custody (i.e. open or secure custody or periodic detention); prisoner numbers by legal status (sentenced or unsentenced) for all prisoners and for Indigenous prisoners; the number of sentenced receptions into custody; the number of federal prisoners; and the numbers and rates of persons serving community-based corrections orders.
The ABS acknowledges the valuable contribution of the Board of Management and the Advisory Group of the National Corrective Services Statistics Unit as well as the staff of the various agencies that provide the statistics that are presented in this publication.
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 <www.abs.gov.au>. Details of other ABS publications relating to Crime and Justice statistics can be found in paragraphs 40-41 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 Marika Woodberry on Melbourne (03) 9615 7601.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
PERSONS IN CORRECTIVE SERVICES
Based on first day of the month averages, for the September quarter 2006 there were 76,803 persons under the authority of corrective services (excluding those in periodic detention). The total comprised 25,154 persons in full-time custody and 51,649 persons in community-based corrections. This represents a decrease of less than 1% (334 persons) from the September quarter 2005. From the September quarter 2005, persons in full-time custody increased by 4% (858 persons) and persons in community-based corrections decreased by 2% (1192 persons).
PERSONS IN CUSTODY
Number of prisoners
PERSONS IN PRISON CUSTODY, Average daily number per month
The average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia in the September quarter 2006 was 25,218, an increase of 2% on the previous quarter and an increase of 4% on the September quarter 2005.
Rates per 100,000 adults
AVERAGE DAILY IMPRISONMENT RATE(a), By State and Territory
Nationally, the September quarter 2006 average daily imprisonment rate was 160 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase of 2% from the September quarter 2005 (156 prisoners). The Northern Territory had the highest imprisonment rate (528 prisoners per 100,000 adult population), followed by Western Australia (228) and Queensland (180). However, the imprisonment rate for the Northern Territory had declined by 4% from September quarter 2005 (550).
The Australian Capital Territory (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) and Victoria had the lowest imprisonment rates (66 and 101 prisoners per 100,000 adults respectively).
The largest proportional increase in imprisonment rates from the September quarter 2005 was recorded in Victoria (6%). The largest proportional decrease over the same period was recorded in the Australian Capital Territory (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) (13%).
Sex
Of the average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia in the September quarter 2006, 23,452 (93%) were male and 1,767 (7%) were female. The average daily imprisonment rate for males was 301 prisoners per 100,000 adult male population, while for females it was 22 prisoners per 100,000 adult female population. Males were more than 14 times more likely to be in prison than females.
Indigenous Prisoners
The average daily number of full-time Indigenous adult prisoners in Australia in the September quarter 2006 was 6,045, comprising 5,529 (91%) males and 516 (9%) females. Almost 80% of the total Indigenous prisoner population was located in New South Wales (1,911), Queensland (1,489) and Western Australia (1,410).
AVERAGE DAILY INDIGENOUS IMPRISONMENT RATE(a), Per month
The national average daily Indigenous imprisonment rate in the September quarter 2006 was 2,111 per 100,000 adult Indigenous population, an increase of 5% from the September quarter 2005 and an increase of less than 1% from the previous quarter.
The highest Indigenous imprisonment rate was recorded in Western Australia (3,408 Indigenous prisoners per 100,000 adult Indigenous population), followed by New South Wales (2,336).
AVERAGE DAILY INDIGENOUS IMPRISONMENT RATE(a), By State and Territory
The largest proportional increase in the Indigenous imprisonment rate from the September quarter 2005 was recorded in New South Wales and Queensland (8% each). (There was a large apparent increase in the Indigenous imprisonment rate in the Australian Capital Territory, but this was largely as a result of improvements to the identification of Indigenous persons who were previously classified to an unknown status). The largest proportional decrease was in Tasmania (13%).
Different age profiles of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population can affect the imprisonment rate numbers. The quarterly collection is unable to take age into account, however, data from the Prisoner Census collection can provide this level of detail.
The national age standardised Indigenous imprisonment rate from the annual Prisoner Census conducted at June 2005 was 12 times higher (1,561 per 100,000 adult Indigenous population) than the rate for non-Indigenous persons (129 per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). Further information on the comparison of imprisonment rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations can be found in Prisoners in Australia 2005 (cat. no. 4517.0).
Type of full-time custody
The average daily number of prisoners in secure prison custody in the September quarter 2006 was 19,139 (76% of prisoners in full-time custody). Open prison custody comprised 6,079 (24%) prisoners.
In the September quarter 2006, all prisoners held in full-time custody in the Australian Capital Territory were in secure custody. Of the other states and territories, Victoria and South Australia had the highest proportion of prisoners in secure custody (91% and 89% respectively). New South Wales (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) had the lowest proportion of prisoners in secure full-time custody (61%).
Legal status
The average number of prisoners in full-time custody on the first day of each month in the September quarter 2006 was 25,154, comprising an average of 19,596 (78%) sentenced and 5,558 (22%) unsentenced prisoners. 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 (36% and 34% respectively). The lowest proportions of unsentenced prisoners were recorded in Western Australia (17%) and Victoria (19%).
UNSENTENCED PERSONS IN PRISON CUSTODY, Proportion per month
Sentenced Prisoner Receptions
There were 6,336 sentenced prisoner receptions into full-time custody in Australia in the September quarter 2006. The number of sentenced receptions increased by 198 (3%) from the June quarter 2006, and increased by 702 (12%) from the September quarter 2005.
Periodic detention
Periodic detention is a form of custody or order where a sentenced prisoner is required to be held in custody on a part-time basis. This type of custody order is only used in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. During the September quarter 2006 there was an average daily number of 734 persons in New South Wales and 54 persons in the Australian Capital Territory held in periodic detention. The rate of imprisonment for periodic detainees decreased in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (both 1%) from the June quarter 2006 to the September quarter 2006.
Federal prisoners
In the September quarter 2006, there were 660 federal prisoners in Australia, a decrease of 3 (less than 1%) from the September quarter 2005. More than half (59%) of these federal prisoners were sentenced in New South Wales.
PERSONS IN COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS
Community-based corrections orders are non-custodial orders under the authority of corrective services and include restricted movement, fine option, community service, parole, bail, and sentenced probation. Unless otherwise specified figures are based on first day of the month. In the September quarter 2006, there were 51,649 persons in community-based corrections in Australia, a decrease of 1% (563 persons) from the June quarter 2006 and a decrease of 2% (1192 persons) from the September quarter 2005.
Sex
Of the average number of persons in community-based corrections in Australia in the September quarter 2006, 42,208 (82%) were male and 9,353 (18%) were female.
Rates per 100,000 adults
Nationally, the rate of persons in community-based corrections was 327 persons per 100,000 adult population for the September quarter 2006. This was a decrease of 4% from the September quarter 2005 (340 persons per 100,000 adults), and a decrease of 2% from the June quarter 2006 (333 persons per 100,000 adults). The largest increase from the September quarter 2005 was recorded in Tasmania (10%). The largest decreases were recorded in Victoria (16%) and Western Australia (5%).
COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS RATE(a), Per month
COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS RATE(a), By State and Territory
In the September quarter 2006, the rate of community-based corrections for males was 542 per 100,000 adult male population compared to 117 females per 100,000 adult female population. Males were almost five times more likely to be in community-based corrections than females.
Type of orders
In the September quarter 2006, there were 8,747 persons serving parole orders following a period of imprisonment. More than three quarters (76%) of persons serving parole orders were located in three states: New South Wales (3,949 persons); Victoria (1,423); and Western Australia (1,246).
For this same period, there were 32,640 persons under sentenced probation and 11,044 persons serving community service orders.
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