4517.0 - Prisoners in Australia, 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/12/2018   
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VICTORIA

Snapshot at 30 June 2018

Graph Image for PRISONERS, Victoria, 30 June 2008 to 30 June 2018

Source(s): Prisoners in Australia


  • The number of prisoners in Victorian prisons was 7,666, an increase of 7% (517 prisoners) from 2017. (Table 15)
  • The adult imprisonment rate was 152 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 145 in 2017. (Table 19)
  • Half (50% or 3,846 prisoners) of all prisoners had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 14)
  • The most common offences/charges were:
    • Acts intended to cause injury (20% or 1,548 prisoners);
    • Illicit drug offences (14% or 1,102 prisoners); and
    • Sexual assault and related offences (13% or 1,008 prisoners). (Table 16)

Sex
  • Males comprised 93% (7,101 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • Since 30 June 2017, the male imprisonment rate increased from 276 to 288 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population, while the female rate increased from 20 to 22 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 25% of the Victorian prisoner population. This was the largest proportion of overseas born prisoners of any state or territory.
  • The largest proportion of overseas born prisoners was from Vietnam (18% of overseas born prisoners) followed by New Zealand (11% of overseas born prisoners). (Table 22)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prisoners
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 9% (691 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was more than 12 times more than the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (1,858 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 146 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 18)

Legal Status
  • Unsentenced prisoners comprised 35% (2,708 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. This proportion has increased 16 percentage points over the past decade (from 19% in 2008). (Tables 14 and 15)
  • The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 2.5 months. (Table 32)
  • The median aggregate sentence length of sentenced prisoners was 3.6 years. (Table 26)