• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

New South Wales

Snapshot

At 30 June 2015:

• The number of adult prisoners in New South Wales prisons was 11,797, an increase of 12% (1,230 prisoners) from 2014. This increase in prisoners was the largest of any state or territory. New South Wales had the largest adult prisoner population, accounting for 33% of the total Australian adult population. (Table 14)


• The adult imprisonment rate was 200 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 182 prisoners per 100,000 adult population in 2014. (Table 18)


• Over half (55% or 6,456 prisoners) of prisoners had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 13)


• The most common offence/charge was acts intended to cause injury (21% or 2,495 prisoners), followed by illicit drug offences (16% or 1,909 prisoners) and sexual assault (11% or 1,278 prisoners). (Table 15)

• Males comprised 93% (10,933 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 13)


• Since 30 June 2014, the male imprisonment rate increased from 345 to 377 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population and the female imprisonment rate increased from 24 to 29 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 14)

• The median age of adult prisoners was 34.3 years of age. (Table 13)

• Overseas born prisoners accounted for 22% (2,612 prisoners) of the New South Wales adult prisoner population, with the largest proportion from New Zealand (341 prisoners or 13% of overseas born prisoners) followed by Vietnam (290 prisoners or 11% of overseas born prisoners). (Table 21)

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 24% (2,846 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 13)


• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was 11 times the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (1,901 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 166 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 17)

• Unsentenced prisoners comprised 31% (3,651 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 13)


• The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 3.4 months. Time on remand as reported in the Prisoner Census is time spent on remand as at 30 June 2015, 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 3.2 years. (Table 25)