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Northern Territory

Snapshot at 30 June, 2016

• The number of adult prisoners in Northern Territory prisons was 1,666, an increase of 5% (73 prisoners) from 2015. (Table 14)

• The adult imprisonment rate was 923 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 885 prisoners per 100,000 adult population at 30 June 2015. The Northern Territory continues to have the highest imprisonment rate of any state or territory, with the national rate in 2016 averaging 208 prisoners per 100,000 adult population. (Table 18)

• Seven in ten prisoners (72% or 1,194 prisoners) had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 13)

• The most common offence/charge was acts intended to cause injury (46% or 769 prisoners) followed by sexual assault (11% or 187 prisoners). (Table 15)

• Males comprised 92% (1,539 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 13)

• Since 30 June, 2015, the male imprisonment rate increased from 1,509 to 1,605 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population, while the female imprisonment rate decreased from 176 to 148 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 14)

• The median age of adult prisoners was 33 years of age. (Table 13)

• Overseas born prisoners accounted for 4% (61 prisoners) of the Northern Territory adult prisoner population, with the largest proportion from the United Kingdom (12 prisoners or 20% of overseas born prisoners). (Table 21)

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 84% (1,393 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. This was the largest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners of any state or territory, with a national average of 27% in 2016. (Table 13)

• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was 13 times the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (2,504 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 193 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 17)

• Unsentenced prisoners comprised 28% (463 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 13)

• The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 2.1 months. Time on remand as reported in the Prisoner Census is time spent on remand as at 30 June 2016, 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 1.5 years, which was the lowest of all states and territories. (Table 25)