4517.0 - Prisoners in Australia, 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/12/2017   
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South Australia

Snapshot at 30 June 2017

Graph Image for PRISONERS, South Australia, 30 June 2007 to 30 June 2017

Source(s): Prisoners in Australia


  • The number of adult prisoners in South Australian prisons was 3,032, an increase of 3% (84 prisoners) since 2016. (Table 15)
  • The adult imprisonment rate was 224 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 219 prisoners per 100,000 adult population in 2016. (Table 19)
  • Just over half of all prisoners (52% or 1,576 prisoners) had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 14)
  • The most common offence/charge was Acts intended to cause injury (17% or 523 prisoners), followed by Sexual assault (14% or 412 prisoners) and Offences against justice (13% or 383 prisoners). (Tables 16 and 23)

Sex
  • Males comprised 93% (2,820 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • Since 30 June 2016, the male imprisonment rate increased from 417 to 425 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population, while the female imprisonment rate increased from 28 to 31 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. These were the highest imprisonment rates in South Australia over the past decade. (Table 15)

Age
  • The median age of adult prisoners was 36 years of age, which was the highest median age of all states and territories. (Table 14)

Country of Birth
  • Overseas-born prisoners accounted for 12% (359 prisoners) of the South Australian adult prisoner population, with the largest proportion from the United Kingdom (74 prisoners or 21% of overseas born prisoners) followed by Vietnam (representing 41 prisoners or 11% of overseas born prisoners). (Table 22)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prisoners
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 23% (706 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was 12 times more than the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (2,454 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 199 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 18)

Legal Status
  • Unsentenced prisoners comprised 38% (1,137 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. This was the second highest proportion nationally in 2017. (Tables 14 and 15)
  • The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 2.4 months. (Table 32)
  • For sentenced prisoners, South Australia had the highest national median aggregate sentence length (4.3 years, compared to the national average of 3.0 years), and median expected time to serve (3.0 years compared to the national average of 1.8 years). (Tables 25 and 26)