Corrective Services, Australia

The Corrective Services, Australia publication presents data for three different populations:

• persons in full-time custody;
• persons in community-based corrections; and
• prisoner receptions.
   

These populations cannot be compared directly. However, they are presented together to provide an overview of persons in corrective services.

In the June quarter 2019, the average daily number of prisoners in Australia was 43,306 compared with 43,320 in the March quarter 2019.

Queensland had largest change in the number of prisoners with a decrease of 1% (100 persons). There were also decreases in Victoria and the Northern Territory. All other states and territories increased from the March quarter 2019.

Nationally, there was a 1% (451 persons) annual increase from the June quarter 2018. (Table 1)

In the last ten years (from the June quarter 2009 to the June quarter 2019), the average number of persons in custody has increased by 52% (14,897 persons). (Time series, Table 1)

In comparison, the Estimated Resident Population for persons aged 18 and over increased by 19%, over a similar time period (from the December quarter 2008 to the December quarter 2018). (Data from Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0))

In the June quarter 2019, the largest contributors to the national prisoner population were:

• New South Wales (31% or 13,553 persons);
• Queensland (21% or 8,887 persons);
• Victoria (19% or 8,153 persons); and
• Western Australia (16% or 6,943 persons). (Table 1)
   

Over the year, the number of males in custody increased by 1% (507 persons), whereas the number of females in custody decreased by 1% (56 persons). (Table 1)

Over the past ten years, the number of males in custody increased by 51% (13,354 persons), and females increased by 75% (1,541 persons). (Time series, Table 2)

The average daily imprisonment rate for males was 412 persons per 100,000 adult male population, which was more than eleven times the rate for females (36 persons per 100,000 adult female population). (Table 5)

Prisoners can be housed in either:

• Secure custody, where they are held in medium or maximum security custodial facilities requiring them to be confined by a secure physical barrier; or
• Open custody, where they are housed in minimum security custodial facilities that do not require them to be confined by a secure perimeter or physical barrier (irrespective of whether a physical barrier exists).
   

In the June quarter 2019, 81% of prisoners in full-time custody were held in secure custody and the remaining 19% in open custody, representing an average daily number of 35,140 and of 8,166 prisoners, respectively.

Over the past year, the secure custody prisoner population increased by 2% (574 persons) and the open custody prisoner population decreased by 1% (123 persons). (Table 6)

Legal status refers to where a person may be either sentenced or unsentenced depending on the warrant(s) or court order(s) that provide the legal basis for the administration of the person through the criminal justice system.

In the June quarter 2019, the average number of full-time prisoners on the first day of the month was 43,385. Of these:

• 66% (28,666) were sentenced; and
• 34% (14,635) were unsentenced. (Table 8)
   

Federal prisoners are persons charged and sentenced under a Commonwealth statute or transferred from another country to serve their sentence in Australia. Refer to Explanatory Notes, Comparability and Significant Events, Australia for more information.

During the June quarter 2019, the average daily number of federal sentenced prisoners in Australia was 854, a decrease of 11% (109 persons) from the June quarter 2018.

Over three quarters of the federal sentenced prisoners in the June quarter 2019 were held in New South Wales (49% or 417 persons) and Victoria (27% or 228 persons). (Table 10)

Imprisonment rates enable comparisons of prisoner numbers to be made across states and territories. Rates for prisoners are expressed per 100,000 adult population. Refer to Explanatory Notes, Rates for more information.

Nationally, the average daily imprisonment rate for the June quarter 2019 was 221 persons per 100,000 adult population.

The Northern Territory continued to have the highest imprisonment rate of all states and territories, with 941 persons per 100,000 adult population. In contrast, the imprisonment rates in the other states and territories ranged from 147 persons per 100,000 adult population in the Australian Capital Territory, up to 346 persons per 100,000 adult population in Western Australia. (Table 3)

The average daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners during the June quarter 2019 was 12,176 persons. This represented an increase of 2% (213 persons) since the June quarter 2018.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners represented 28% of the total full-time adult prisoner population during the June quarter 2019.

The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males in custody increased by 3% (269 persons) for the year whereas the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females in custody decreased by 4% (56 persons) over the same period. (Table 11)

The average daily imprisonment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males was 4,497 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male population, which was almost nine times the rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females (500 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander female population). (Table 12)

Three states continue to account for nearly three-quarters of the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoner population:

• New South Wales (28% or 3,433 persons);
• Queensland (24% or 2,886 persons); and
• Western Australia (22% or 2,689 persons). (Table 1)
   

The proportions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sentenced and unsentenced prisoners were the same as the total prisoner population, 66% (8,008 persons) were sentenced and 34% (4,155 persons) were unsentenced. (Table 13)

The national average daily Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate was 2,483 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. The highest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate was recorded in Western Australia (4,108 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population) and the lowest was in Tasmania (770 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population).

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate increased by 7 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, for the quarter. (Table 12)

Reported averages for number of persons serving community-based corrections (CBC) orders and for the number of CBC orders are based on first day of the month figures. For the community-based corrections order types, persons may be counted more than once if they have two or more different types of orders operating simultaneously. Refer to Explanatory Notes, Introduction and Counting Rules for more information.

CBC orders are non-custodial orders served under the authority of adult corrective services agencies. They include restricted movement, reparations (fine option and community service), supervision orders (parole, bail, sentenced probation) and post-sentence supervision orders.

The average number of persons serving CBC orders in the June quarter 2019 was 79,134 persons, representing a quarterly increase of 5% (3,590 persons). This increase in part can be explained by the introduction of two new sentence types under the NSW Sentencing Reform. Refer to Explanatory Notes, Comparability and Significant Events, New South Wales for more information.

Since the June quarter 2018, there was an increase of 14% (9,737 persons) in the average daily number of persons serving CBC orders.

Three states accounted for over three-quarters of the national number of persons in community-based corrections:

• New South Wales (37% or 29,290 persons), an increase of 14% (3,578 persons) since the March quarter 2019;
• Queensland (27% or 21,204 persons); and
• Victoria (17% or 13,062 persons). (Table 1)
   

Over the past ten years (since the June quarter 2009), persons serving CBC orders increased by 40% or 22,768 persons. (Time series, Table 4)

In the June quarter 2019, males accounted for 80% (63,569 persons) of the total persons serving CBC orders, and the remaining one-fifth were female (15,543 persons). (Table 1)

Over the past ten years (since June quarter 2009), females serving CBC orders have increased at a higher rate than males, increasing by 53% (5,365 persons) and 38% (17,469 persons), respectively. (Time series, Table 5)

A person may be serving more than one type of CBC order at the same time and therefore, the total count of orders may be greater than the total count of persons serving CBC orders. Refer to Explanatory Notes, Counting Rules for more information.

In the June quarter 2019, there were 86,288 CBC orders being served. This represented an increase of 5% (4,227 orders) since the March quarter 2019.

There were quarterly increases for all CBC order types except Fine option, decreasing by 5% (123 orders) since the March quarter 2019. This decrease is in part due to changes in Victoria resulting from the Victoria Fines Reform Act 2014. Refer to Explanatory Notes, Comparability and Significant Events, Victoria for more information. (Table 17 and historical data)

Sentenced probation continued to be the most common order type, accounting for 60% (52,197 orders) of all CBC orders in the June quarter 2019. In the June quarter 2018 Sentenced probation accounted for 56% of orders.

Nationally, Sentenced probation increased by 8% (3,725 order) since the March quarter 2019. The growth for can be linked to the introduction of two new sentence types in New South Wales. Refer Explanatory Notes, Comparability and Significant Events, New South Wales for more information.

Community-based corrections rates enable comparisons of persons in CBC to be made across states and territories. Rates persons in CBC are expressed per 100,000 adult population. Refer to Explanatory Notes, Rates for more information.

In the June quarter 2019, the national rate of persons in CBC was 403 persons per 100,000 adult population. The rate reflects increases, per 100,000 adult population, of:

• 17 persons since the March quarter 2019; and
• 43 persons since the June quarter 2018. (Table 16)
   

The average number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons in CBC for the June quarter 2019, was 16,680. This represents an increase of 15% (2,168 persons) over the year.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons made up over one fifth (21%) of the total CBC population, of which 80% were located within three states:

• New South Wales (39% or 6,503 persons);
• Queensland (30% or 4,989 persons); and
• Western Australia (11% or 1,822 persons). (Table 18)
   

Age standardised CBC data presents rates adjusted to account for age differences between the non-Indigenous population and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. These data include all adult persons serving a CBC order in each state and territory in Australia, as of 30 June 2019. Refer to the Explanatory Notes, Comparability and Significant Events – Age Standardisation and Age Standardised Community-based Corrections Data Cube for more information.

The age standardised rate of persons in CBC was:

• 2,648 persons per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population, representing an increase of 118 persons over the year; and
• 299 persons per 100,000 non-Indigenous adult population, representing a decrease of 1 person over the year. (Age Standardised Community-based Corrections data cube, Table 2)
   

Persons serving CBC orders aged 25 to 34 years had the highest crude of all age groups, 628 persons per 100,000 adult population. (Age Standardised Community-based Corrections data cube, Table 3)

A reception refers to the entry into full-time adult corrective services custody from the community.

In the June quarter 2019, there were 16,999 prisoner receptions in Australia.

Prisoner receptions decreased by 2% (350 persons) since the March quarter 2019, but increased by 1% (239 persons) over the year.

Of all prisoner receptions in the June quarter 2019:

• 86% (14,670 persons) were male; and
• 14% (2,327 persons) were female. (Table 20)
   

The majority of prisoner receptions in the June quarter 2019 were unsentenced prisoners, comprising 76% (12,977 persons) of all prisoner receptions, with sentenced prisoners accounting for the remaining 24% (4,022 persons). (Table 21)

There were 5,522 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoner receptions; a decrease of 6% (323 persons) since the March quarter 2019, but an increase of 3% (183 persons) since the June quarter 2018.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoner receptions represented 32% of the overall prisoner receptions population.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoner receptions decreased since the March quarter 2019 by:

• 5% (252 persons) for males; and
• 7% (71 persons) for females. (Table 20)