4517.0 - Prisoners in Australia, 2013 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/03/2015   
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SENTENCED PRISONERS

There were 6,355 sentenced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners at 30 June 2013, a 5% increase since 30 June 2012 (6,029). This compares with a 3% increase in the number of sentenced non-Indigenous prisoners (from 16,445 to 16,962). (Table 8)

Aggregate sentence length

Excluding prisoners with indeterminate, life with a minimum and periodic detention sentences, the median aggregate sentence length for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners at 30 June 2013 was 2.0 years (24 months), which has remained unchanged since 2007. The median aggregate sentence length for sentenced non-Indigenous prisoners was 3.5 years (42 months). (Tables 11 and 12)


Graph Image for SENTENCED PRISONERS, Indigenous status by median aggregate sentence length(a) and selected most serious offence

Footnote(s): (a) Prisoners with indeterminate, life with a minimum and periodic detention sentences are excluded from aggregate sentence calculations.

Source(s): Prisoners in Australia




For both sentenced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous prisoners, homicide had the highest median aggregate sentence length at 30 June 2013; however, the median aggregate sentence length varied between the two populations (10 years or 120 months for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners, and 16.6 years or 199 months for non-Indigenous prisoners). This was followed by sexual assault (7 years or 84 months for both prisoner populations). (Tables 11 and 12)

Expected time to serve

Expected time to serve takes into account the earliest date of release for sentenced prisoners. Excluding prisoners with indeterminate, life without a minimum, and periodic detention sentences, the median expected time to serve for sentenced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners at 30 June 2013 was 1.2 years (15 months), a decrease of 1% from 2012. For the non-Indigenous prisoner population, the median expected time to serve was 2.0 years (24 months), a decrease of 13% from 2012.

For both sentenced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous prisoners, the median expected time to serve at 30 June 2013 was highest for the offence of homicide (9 years or 108 months for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners, and 13.7 years or 165 months for non-Indigenous prisoners), followed by sexual assault (5 years or 60 months for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners, and 4.8 years or 57 months for non-Indigenous prisoners). (Tables 11 and 12)