4512.0 - Corrective Services, Australia, Sep 2004

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 01/12/2004

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Main Features About this Release	NOTES ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION This publication presents information on persons in custody and community-based corrections. The statistics are derived from information provided to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from administrative records held by corrective services agencies in each state and territory, and from the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department for details on federal prisoners. Details are provided for each state and territory on numbers and imprisonment rates by type of custody (i.e. open or secure custody or periodic detention). Information is also presented on prisoner numbers by legal status (sentenced or unsentenced) and by sentence type, for all prisoners and for Indigenous prisoners, together with the number of sentenced receptions into custody and the number of federal prisoners. The ABS acknowledges the valuable contribution of the Board of Management, the Advisory Group of the National Corrective Services Statistics Unit and the staff of the various agencies that provide the statistics that are presented in this publication. INDIGENOUS IMPRISONMENT RATES The ABS has temporarily discontinued publication of Indigenous imprisonment rates pending the rebasing of these rates, including historical data, on the new experimental estimates of the Indigenous population based on the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. These will replace the 1996 Census based series which were previously used as denominators for calculating Indigenous imprisonment rates. The rebased rates will be included in the March quarter 2005 issue, which will be released in June 2005. See paragraph 29 of the Explanatory Notes for further information. FURTHER INFORMATION More information about ABS activities in the field of crime and justice statistics is available from the Crime and Justice theme page on the ABS web site. Details of other ABS publications relating to Crime and Justice statistics can be found in paragraphs 37-39 of the Explanatory Notes. INQUIRIES For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Nick Skondreas on Melbourne (03) 9615 7381. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS NUMBER OF PRISONERS PERSONS IN PRISON CUSTODY, Average daily number per month The average daily number of prisoners in Australia in the September quarter 2004 was 23,490, an increase of 341 (1%) on the June quarter 2004 and an increase of 755 (3%) in the year since the September quarter 2003. These increases continue the upward trend of average daily prisoner numbers over the last two years. RATES PER 100,000 ADULTS AVERAGE DAILY IMPRISONMENT RATE(a) Nationally, the average daily imprisonment rate was 153 prisoners per 100,000 adult population during the September quarter 2004, an increase of 2% since the September quarter 2003. The Northern Territory had the highest imprisonment rate (510 prisoners per 100,000 adult population), followed by Western Australia (214) and Queensland (180). The Australian Capital Territory (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) and Victoria had the lowest imprisonment rates (79 and 94 prisoners per 100,000 adults respectively). Of all states and territories, the largest proportional increase (9%) in imprisonment rates since the September quarter 2003 was recorded in the Australian Capital Territory (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons). The next highest increase was Western Australia (7%), followed by New South Wales (6%). Victoria recorded a decrease in its imprisonment rate (4%) over the same period. SEX Of the average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia in the September quarter 2004, 21,901 (93%) were male and 1,589 (7%) were female. The average daily imprisonment rate for males was 289 prisoners per 100,000 adult male population. The average daily imprisonment rate for females was 20 prisoners per 100,000 adult female population. Males were 14 times more likely to be in prison than females. INDIGENOUS PRISONERS INDIGENOUS PERSONS IN FULL-TIME CUSTODY In the September quarter 2004, there were 5,162 Indigenous prisoners. The number of Indigenous prisoners has increased by 393 (8%) since the September quarter 2003. Of all Indigenous prisoners, 434 (8%) were female, which is similar to the overall proportion of female prisoners in full-time custody (7%). The average number of unsentenced Indigenous prisoners on the first day of the three months in the September quarter was 1,029 (20%). This compares to a proportion of 21% of all prisoners who were unsentenced in the quarter. TYPE OF FULL-TIME CUSTODY The average daily number of prisoners in secure prison custody in the September quarter 2004 was 16,796 (72% of prisoners in full-time custody). The remaining prisoners were held in open prison custody. Nationally, the proportions of prisoners held in secure and open prison custody have remained stable over the past year. In the September quarter 2004, all prisoners held in full-time custody in the Australian Capital Territory were in secure custody. In other states and territories, the highest proportions of prisoners held in secure full-time prison custody were recorded in Victoria (90%) and South Australia (88%). The proportion of prisoners in secure full-time custody was lowest in New South Wales (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) at 53%. This represents 49% of all persons held in New South Wales, including periodic detainees. LEGAL STATUS AND SENTENCE TYPE The average number of prisoners in full-time custody on the first day of the three months in the September quarter was 23,456. Of these, the average number of unsentenced prisoners was 4,908 (21%). The Australian Capital Territory (including Australian Capital Territory prisoners held in New South Wales prisons) and South Australia had the highest proportions of unsentenced prisoners (37% and 33% respectively). The lowest proportions of unsentenced prisoners were recorded in Western Australia and Victoria (16% and 17% respectively). PERSONS IN PRISON CUSTODY, Proportion unsentenced per month SENTENCED RECEPTIONS There were 6,112 sentenced receptions into full-time custody in Australia in the September quarter 2004. The number of sentenced receptions decreased by 122 (2%) since the June quarter 2004, and increased by 143 (2%) since the September quarter 2003. PERIODIC DETENTION Periodic detention is a form of custody only used in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. During the September quarter 2004 there was an average daily number of 755 persons in New South Wales and 98 persons in the Australian Capital Territory held in periodic detention. While the rate of imprisonment for periodic detention in the Australian Capital Territory increased by 31% between the September quarters 2003 and 2004, in New South Wales it decreased by 2% during the same period. In the September quarter 2004, 57% of all persons in custody (full-time and periodic detention) in the Australian Capital Territory were in periodic detention. In contrast 8% of all persons in custody in New South Wales were in periodic detention. FEDERAL PRISONERS In the September quarter 2004, there were 679 federal prisoners in Australia, a decrease of 5 (1%) since the September quarter 2003. Of the federal prisoners, more than half were sentenced in New South Wales. PERSONS IN COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS In the September quarter 2004, there were 51,495 persons in community-based corrections in Australia, an increase of 2% (1,089 persons) since the September quarter 2003. Rates per 100,000 adults Nationally, the rate of persons in community-based corrections was 335 persons per 100,000 adult population for the September quarter 2004. This was an increase of 1% since September quarter 2003 (332 persons per 100,000 adults). The largest increase was in Victoria (8%), followed by the Northern Territory (6%). The Australian Capital Territory recorded the largest proportional decrease (7%). COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTIONS RATE(a) In the September quarter 2004, the male rate of participation in community-based corrections was 553 per 100,000 adult male population in comparison to 118 females per 100,000 adult female population. Males were five times more likely to be in community-based corrections than females. 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