Most serious offence/charge

Key movements

The three most common offences/charges for prisoners as of 30 June 2017 were:

• Acts intended to cause injury (23% or 9,344 prisoners);
• Illicit drug offences (15% or 6,155 prisoners); and
• Sexual assault (12% or 4,785 prisoners). (Table 1)

These were the highest number of prisoners for these offence categories since the beginning of the time series in 2010.

Homicide, Dangerous or negligent acts, Abduction/harassment, Fraud/deception and Weapons/explosives offences also reached their highest levels in 2017.

Between 2016 and 2017, the national number of prisoners increased by 2,357 prisoners (or 6%). Since 2016, the largest increases in the number of prisoners occurred for the following offences:

• Acts intended to cause injury (12% or 980 prisoners);
• Illicit drug offences (18% or 919 prisoners);
• Sexual assault (9% or 399 prisoners); and
• Dangerous or negligent acts (30% or 362 prisoners). (Table 3)

Since 2016, the largest decreases in the number of prisoners occurred for the following offences:

• Theft (8% or 132 prisoners); and
• Offences against justice (4% or 127 prisoners). (Table 3)

Key time-series movements

Between 2010 and 2017:

• Acts intended to cause injury has increased by 61% (or 3,541 prisoners). This remained the most common offence for prisoners in Australia throughout the period.
• The second highest was Illicit drug offences which has nearly doubled, increasing by 90% (or 2,922 prisoners).
• Sexual assault has increased by 29% (1,076 prisoners) for the period. (Table 3)

Selected offences

As of 30 June 2017:

Acts intended to cause injury

• Males accounted for the majority (93%) of prisoners with an offence/charge of Acts intended to cause injury. Similarly, males accounted for 92% of all prisoners in Australia in 2017.

• The median age of prisoners with an offence/charge of Acts intended to cause injury was 33 years. (Table 1)

• Acts intended to cause injury was the most common offence/charge in every state and territory, ranging from 17% of all prisoners in South Australia to 47% of all prisoners in the Northern Territory. (Table 16)

• The majority of prisoners with an offence/charge of Acts intended to cause injury had prior adult imprisonment under sentence (65% or 6,027 prisoners). This was higher than the national average of prior imprisonment (56%). (Table 1)

• More than half (59%) of prisoners sentenced with an offence/charge of Acts intended to cause injury were serving an aggregate sentence between one and five years (2,979 prisoners). (Table 11)

Illicit drug offences

• Males accounted for the majority (89%) of prisoners with an offence/charge of Illicit drug offences.

• The median age of prisoners with an offence/charge of Illicit drug offences was 36 years.

• Most prisoners with an offence/charge of Illicit drug offences were non-Indigenous (94% or 5,777 prisoners).

• Over one-third (36%) of prisoners with an offence/charge of Illicit drug offences had prior adult imprisonment under sentence. This was lower than national average of prior imprisonment (56%). (Table 1)

• The median aggregate sentence length for prisoners sentenced with an offence/charge of Illicit drug offences was 4.8 years. One third (33%) of prisoners were serving a sentence between two and five years and one-third (33%) were serving a sentence between five and ten years. (Table 11)

Sexual assault

• The overwhelming majority of prisoners with an offence/charge of Sexual assault were male (99% or 4,728 prisoners).

• The median age of prisoners with an offence/charge of Sexual assault was 45 years, which was the highest of all offence types.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners accounted for 19% of all prisoners with an offence/charge of Sexual assault.

• Nearly one-third (31%) of prisoners with an offence/charge of Sexual assault had prior adult imprisonment under sentence. (Table 1)

• The median aggregate sentence length for Sexual assault was 7.0 years, which was the second longest of all offences, following Homicide (16.6 years). (Table 11)