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

Snapshot at 30 June 2018

Graph Image for PRISONERS, Northern Territory, 30 June 2008 to 30 June 2018

Source(s): Prisoners in Australia


  • The number of adult prisoners in Northern Territory prisons was 1,758, an increase of 10% (157 prisoners) from 2017. (Table 15)
  • The adult imprisonment rate was 955 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 878 prisoners per 100,000 adult population at 30 June 2017. The Northern Territory continues to have the highest imprisonment rate of any state or territory, with the national rate averaging 221 prisoners per 100,000 adult population. (Table 19)
  • Seven in ten prisoners (73% or 1,284 prisoners) had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 14)
  • The most common offence/charge was Acts intended to cause injury (48% or 851 prisoners) followed by Sexual assault and related offences (11% or 194 prisoners). (Table 16)

Sex
  • Males comprised 94% (1,644 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • Since 30 June 2017, the male imprisonment rate increased from 1,594 to 1,721 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population. The female imprisonment rate also increased, up from 125 to 130 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 4% of the Northern Territory adult prisoner population, with the largest proportion from the United Kingdom (21% of overseas born prisoners), followed by New Zealand (16% of overseas born prisoners). Of all states and territories, the Northern Territory had the lowest proportion of overseas-born prisoners. (Table 22)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prisoners
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 84% (1,477 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. This was the largest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners of any state or territory, with a national average of 28% in 2018. (Table 14)
  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was more than 12 times the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (2,579 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 205 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 18)

Legal Status
  • Unsentenced prisoners comprised 29% (508 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 2.1 months. (Table 32)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for sentenced prisoners was 1.5 years, which was the lowest of all states and territories. (Table 26)