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

Northern Territory

Snapshot

At 30 June 2015:

• The number of adult prisoners in Northern Territory prisons was 1,593, an increase of 7% (101 prisoners) from 2014. (Table 14)


• The adult imprisonment rate was 885 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 829 prisoners per 100,000 adult population at 30 June 2014. This was the highest imprisonment rate of any state or territory. (Table 18)


• Seven in ten prisoners (72% or 1,153 prisoners) had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 13)


• The most common offence/charge was acts intended to cause injury (47% or 755 prisoners) followed by sexual assault (10% or 165 prisoners). (Table 15)

• Males comprised 91% (1,447 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 13)


• Since 30 June 2014, the male imprisonment rate increased from 1,448 to 1,509 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population, and the female imprisonment rate increased from 128 to 176 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 14)

• The median age of adult prisoners was 33.4 years of age. (Table 13)

• Overseas born prisoners accounted for 4% (65 prisoners) of the Northern Territory adult prisoner population, with the largest proportion from New Zealand (17 prisoners or 26% of overseas born prisoners) followed by the United Kingdom (8 prisoners or 12% of overseas born prisoners). (Table 21)

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 84% (1,344 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. This was the largest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners of any state or territory. (Table 13)


• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was 14 times the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (2,471 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 180 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 17)

• Unsentenced prisoners comprised 30% (482 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 13)


• The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 1.6 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 for sentenced prisoners was 1.4 years. (Table 25)