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

Snapshot at 30 June 2017

Graph Image for PRISONERS, Australian Capital Territory, 30 June 2007 to 30 June 2017

Source(s): Prisoners in Australia


  • The number of adult prisoners in Australian Capital Territory prisons was 449, an increase of 2% (8 prisoners) from 2016. (Table 15)
  • The adult imprisonment rate was 141 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, a decrease from 144 prisoners per 100,000 adult population in 2016. (Table 19)
  • Three-quarters of prisoners (75% or 337 prisoners) had previously been imprisoned under sentence. This was the largest proportion of any state or territory (the national average was 57%). (Table 14)
  • The most common offence/charge was Acts intended to cause injury (27% or 120 prisoners), followed by Sexual assault (12% or 55 prisoners). (Table 16)

Sex
  • Males comprised 91% (408 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • Since 30 June 2016, the male imprisonment rate decreased from 274 to 261 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population, while the female imprisonment rate increased from 20 to 26 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 15)

Age
  • The median age of adult prisoners was 34 years of age. (Table 14)

Country of Birth
  • Overseas-born prisoners accounted for 17% (75 prisoners) of the Australian Capital Territory adult prisoner population. (Table 22)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prisoners
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 21% (95 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was 16 times more than the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (1,703 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 109 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 18)

Legal Status
  • Unsentenced prisoners comprised 39% (174 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. This was the highest proportion of unsentenced prisoners across all states and territories. (Table 14)
  • The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 2.7 months. (Table 32)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for sentenced prisoners was 3.0 years. (Table 26)