PRISONER CENSUS

DASHBOARD METADATA

Collection Type Administrative by-product (census)

Geographic Coverage National State/Territory (all)

Frequency Annual

Data Availability Detailed publication / report publicly available Data cubes / spreadsheets publicly available Customised data - charged consultancy

CONTACT DETAILS

Data custodian: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Telephone: 1300 135 070
Email: client.services@abs.gov.au
Web Address: https://www.abs.gov.au

DESCRIPTION

Data collected in the Prisoner Census provides nationally comparable statistics on all persons remanded or sentenced to adult custodial corrective services agencies in each state and territory in Australia on 30 June every year. It includes information on the number of people in correctional institutions, including the characteristics of the prisoners, type of prisoner (sentenced prisoners, unsentenced prisoners (remandees) and post-sentence prisoners), imprisonment rates, most serious offence/charge, and sentence length. Information about prisoner characteristics, including age, sex and Indigenous status is also collected.

COLLECTION HISTORY

Collection commenced: 2000
Break in series: None
Other details:

COLLECTION METHODOLOGY

Statistics are derived from information held in administrative systems which are maintained by corrective services agencies within each state and territory.

SCOPE AND COVERAGE

The scope includes all persons remanded or sentenced to adult custodial corrective services agencies in each state and territory in Australia.

DEFINITION OF FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

N/A

DEFINITION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Sexual violence is coded to Division 3 (Sexual assault and related offences) in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (cat. no. 1234.0), and is defined as acts, or intents of acts, of a sexual nature against another person which are non-consensual or consent is proscribed.

DATA AVAILABILITY AND DISSEMINATION

The main publication and accompanying data tables can be downloaded free of charge from the ABS website.

Other data from this collection may be available from the ABS on request. Subject to confidentiality and data quality constraints, special tabulations can be produced incorporating data items selected to meet individual requirements. These are available on request, on a fee-for-service basis. Contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or client.services@abs.gov.au for further information.

PUBLICATIONS

Prisoners in Australia - 4517.0

HOW THE STATISTICAL COLLECTION INFORMS NATIONAL DATA INITIATIVES

This section provides an overview of if/how the statistical collection informs or aligns with key initiatives relating to family, domestic, and sexual violence statistics. These assessments are not an ABS endorsement or indication of data quality, but are intended to assist readers in determining whether the data will meet their data needs.

Relationship to 'Defining the Data Challenge for Family, Domestic, and Sexual Violence'

The summary table below is designed to indicate whether the data source informs the six statistical elements outlined in Defining the Data Challenge for Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence, 2013 (cat. no. 4529.0).

FDV - Family and domestic violence data
SV - Sexual violence data

STATISTICAL ELEMENTS	DATA AVAILABILITY
Context	SV
Environmental factors	SV
Psycho-social factors	SV
Risk
Community prevalence
Community incidence
Incident/Experience
Characteristics of incident
Responses	SV
Formal responses	SV
Informal responses
Impacts/Outcomes
Programs, Research, and Evaluation

Relationship to the 'Foundation for a National Data Collection and Reporting Framework for Family, Domestic, and Sexual Violence'

The three tables below provide an indication of which data items can be informed by the data source. The data items have been conceptually grouped into the key information units - Person, Event, and Transaction - as described in the Foundation for a National Data Collection and Reporting Framework for Family, Domestic, and, Sexual Violence, 2014 (cat. no. 4529.0.00.003).

PERSON

FDV - Family and domestic violence data
SV - Sexual violence data

DATA ITEMS	DATA AVAILABILITY
	Perpetrator
Socio-demographic	SV
Sex	SV
Age	SV
Indigenous status	SV
Cultural and linguistic diversity	SV
Marital status
Disability status
Employment status
Educational attainment
Socioeconomic status
Mental health
Other	SV legal status; prior imprisonment; sentence length

EVENT

FDV - Family and domestic violence data
SV - Sexual violence data

DATA ITEMS	DATA AVAILABILITY
Location
Home/residential location
Workplace/place of study
Public transport
At a place of entertainment or recreation
Other public place
Other
Relationship
Current partner/spouse
Previous partner/spouse
Boyfriend/girlfriend/date
Parent
Child
Sibling
Other relative/family member
Other known person
Stranger
Other
Other characteristics
Weapon use
Alcohol/other substance involved
Physical injuries sustained
Hospitalisation
Other

TRANSACTION

FDV - Family and domestic violence data
SV - Sexual violence data

DATA ITEMS	DATA AVAILABILITY
Detection and prosecution	SV
Police
Courts
Corrections	SV
Other
Formal support
Police
Doctor/other health professional
Counsellor/social worker/mental health professional
Legal/financial service
Refuge/shelter/resource centre
Government housing/community services
Other
Informal support
Friend/family member
Pastoral care
Helpline
Other