SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


PERSONS IN CORRECTIVE SERVICES

Based on first day of the month averages, for the June quarter 2011, there were 83,573 persons under the authority of corrective services (excluding those in periodic detention). The total comprised 28,964 persons in full-time custody and 54,609 persons in community-based corrections. This represents a decrease of 3% (2,429 persons) from the June quarter 2010. Over the same period, persons in full-time custody decreased by 1% (397 persons) and persons in community-based corrections decreased by 4% (2,032 persons).


Number of prisoners

During the June quarter 2011, the average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia was 28,909 persons. This was an increase of 1% from the March quarter 2011.

Number of persons in community-based corrections

Community-based corrections orders are non-custodial orders served under the authority of adult corrective services agencies and include restricted movement, reparations (fine options and community service) and supervision orders (parole, bail, and sentenced probation). In the June quarter 2011, there were 54,609 persons in community-based corrections in Australia based on first day of the month averages, a decrease of 148 persons from the March quarter 2011.

PERSONS IN CUSTODY

Rates per 100,000 adults

Nationally, the June quarter 2011 average daily imprisonment rate was 166 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, a decrease of 3% from the June quarter 2010. The Northern Territory had the highest imprisonment rate (748 prisoners per 100,000 adult population), followed by Western Australia (262) and New South Wales (179).

The Australian Capital Territory and Victoria had the lowest imprisonment rates (87 and 107 prisoners per 100,000 adult population respectively).

The Northern Territory recorded the largest proportional increase in imprisonment rates from the June quarter 2010 (11%). The largest proportional decreases over the same period were recorded in Western Australia (6%), New South Wales and Queensland (both 5%).

Sex

Of the average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia in the June quarter 2011, 26,877 (93%) were male and 2,032 (7%) were female. The average daily imprisonment rate for males was 313 prisoners per 100,000 adult male population; 13 times more than the rate for females (23 female prisoners per 100,000 adult female population).


Type of full-time custody

The average daily number of prisoners in secure prison custody in the June quarter 2011 was 22,562 (78% of prisoners in full-time custody). Open prison custody comprised 6,347 prisoners (22%).

All prisoners in the Australian Capital Territory are in secure prison custody. Queensland had the next highest proportions of prisoners in secure custody (91%), followed by South Australia and Tasmania (both 89%); and Victoria (88%).


Legal status

The average number of prisoners in full-time custody on the first day of each month in the June quarter 2011 was 28,964, comprising an average of 22,008 (76%) sentenced and 6,956 (24%) unsentenced prisoners. Sentenced prisoners increased by 2% from the previous quarter and decreased by 2% from the June quarter 2010.

Unsentenced prisoners increased by 3% from the previous quarter and by 2% from the June quarter 2010. The Australian Capital Territory and South Australia had the highest proportions of unsentenced prisoners (39% and 32% respectively). The lowest proportions of unsentenced prisoners were recorded in Western Australia (18%), Victoria and Tasmania (both 19%).

Sentenced prisoner receptions

There were 7,341 sentenced prisoner receptions into full-time custody in Australia in the June quarter 2011; an increase of 1% (43) from the March quarter 2011 and a decrease of 1% (86) from the June quarter 2010.


Periodic detention

Periodic detention is a form of custody or order where a sentenced prisoner is required to be held in custody on a part-time basis. This type of custody order is currently only used in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. This program has ceased in New South Wales from October 2010, but some prisoners are still undertaking pre-existing sentences.

During the June quarter 2011 there was an average daily number of 161 persons in New South Wales and 56 persons in the Australian Capital Territory held in periodic detention. The rate of imprisonment for periodic detainees decreased by 44% in New South Wales (from 5.2 per 100,000 to 2.9 per 100,000) from the March quarter 2011, and decreased by 9% in the Australian Capital Territory (from 22 per 100,000 to 20 per 100,000).


Federal prisoners

In the June quarter 2011, there were 874 federal sentenced prisoners in Australia based on first day of the month figures, an increase of 13% from the June quarter 2010. Just under half (415) of the federal prisoners were sentenced in New South Wales.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners

The average daily number of full-time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult prisoners in Australia in the June quarter 2011 was 7,621, comprising 6,997 (92%) males and 624 (8%) females. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners represented 26% of the total full-time prisoner population in the June quarter 2011, the same proportion as for the March quarter 2011. The total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population aged 18 years and over at 30 June 2010 was 2% of the Australian population.

Approximately 75% of the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoner population was located in the states of New South Wales (2,270), Western Australia (1,775) and Queensland (1,671) combined.

The national average daily Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate in the June quarter 2011 was 2,242 per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, an increase of 2% from the previous quarter and a decrease of 3% from the June quarter 2011.

Different age profiles of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous population can affect imprisonment rate numbers. The quarterly collection is unable to take age into account; however, data from the Prisoner Census collection can provide this level of detail.

The national age standardised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate from the annual Prisoner Census conducted at June 2010 was 14 times higher (1,892 per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population) than the rate for non-Indigenous persons (134 per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). Further information on the comparison of imprisonment rates between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous populations can be found in Prisoners in Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 4517.0).

The highest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate was recorded in Western Australia (3,817 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population), followed by South Australia (2,621) and the Northern Territory (2,426). The lowest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate was recorded in Tasmania (594), followed by the Australian Capital Territory (1,233).

The largest proportional increase in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment rate from the June quarter 2010 was recorded in the Northern Territory (11%), followed by Tasmania (4%) and South Australia (3%). Western Australia (10%), and Australian Capital Territory (6%) recorded the largest proportional decreases over the same period.


PERSONS IN COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS

Rates per 100,000 adults

Nationally, the rate of persons in community-based corrections was 314 persons per 100,000 adult population for the June quarter 2011 based on first day of the month figures. This was a decrease of 5% from the June quarter 2010 (331 persons per 100,000 adults). The largest decrease from the June quarter 2010 was recorded in Western Australia (16%), while the largest increase was recorded in Tasmania (14%).

Sex

Of the average number of persons in community-based corrections in Australia in the June quarter 2011, 44,625 (82%) were male and 9,936 (18%) were female.

In the June quarter 2011, the rate of community-based corrections for males was 520 per 100,000 adult male population compared to 113 females per 100,000 adult female population. The community-based corrections rate for males was more than four times that of females.


Type of orders

In the June quarter 2011, there were 12,024 persons on parole following a period of imprisonment. Three states accounted for approximately 86% of persons serving parole orders: New South Wales (4,318 or 36%), Queensland (4,371 persons or 36%), and Victoria (1,636 or 14%). The largest proportional decrease in parole orders from the March quarter 2011 was recorded in Tasmania (10%).

For this same period, there were 32,881 persons under sentenced probation and 9,302 persons serving community service orders; a decrease in the number of persons under sentenced probation of 1%, and of those on community service orders of 2% from the March quarter 2011.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in community-based corrections

Based on first day of the month averages, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in community-based corrections for the June quarter was 10,575; five persons more than the previous quarter. The numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in community-based corrections increased from the March quarter by 4% (65) in Western Australia and by 1% (40) in New South Wales. The largest proportional decreases were in the Australian Capital Territory (8% or 12), Victoria (5% or 25) and the Northern Territory (4% or 30). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders represented 19% of the total number of persons in community-based corrections in the June quarter 2011.

Approximately 75% of the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-based corrections population was located in the states of New South Wales (3,122), Queensland (3,336) and Western Australia (1,511).