The number of prisoners in New South Wales prisons was 13,740, an increase of 4% (591 prisoners) from 2017. This was the largest numerical increase in prisoners for all states and territories.
New South Wales had the largest prisoner population nationally, accounting for 32% of the total Australian adult population. (Table 15)
The adult imprisonment rate was 222 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 216 prisoners per 100,000 adult population in 2017. (Table 19)
Just over half (52% or 7,074 prisoners) of prisoners had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 14)
The most common offences/charges were:
Acts intended to cause injury (22% or 3,085 prisoners);
Illicit drug offences (17% or 2,366 prisoners); and
Sexual assault and related offences (13% or 1,815 prisoners). (Table 16)
Sex
Males comprised 92% (12,664 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 14)
Since 30 June 2017, the male imprisonment rate increased from 406 to 416 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population, while the female imprisonment rate increased from 32 to 34 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 15)
Age
The median age of adult prisoners was 35 years of age. (Table 14)
Country of Birth
Overseas born prisoners accounted for 20% of the New South Wales prisoner population, with the largest proportion from Vietnam and New Zealand (both 12% of overseas born prisoners). (Table 22)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prisoners
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 24% (3,344 prisoners) of the prisoner population. (Table 14)
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was almost 12 times more than the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (2,137 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 184 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 18)
Legal Status
Unsentenced prisoners comprised 33% (4,602 prisoners) of the prisoner population. The proportion of prisoners who were unsentenced has increased over 10 percentage points over the past 10 years (from 23% in 2008). (Tables 14 and 15)
The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 3.8 months, which was the highest nationally. (Table 32)
The median aggregate sentence length of sentenced prisoners was 3.2 years. (Table 26)
Document Selection
These documents will be presented in a new window.
Quality Declaration 
Print Page
Print All
