Contains annual national information on prisoners in custody at 30 June, including demographic data, imprisonment rates, and most serious offence.
As at 30 June 2024:
From 30 June 2023 to 30 June 2024:
There were increases in total prisoners in every state and territory except Victoria, where there was a decrease.
(a) For a definition of most serious offence/charge, see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge section.
From 30 June 2023 to 30 June 2024, male prisoners increased by 6% (2,210) to 40,967. The largest numerical changes by most serious offence/charge were:
Female prisoners increased by 8% (264) to 3,432. The largest numerical changes by most serious offence/charge were:
As at 30 June 2024, the median age was:
As at 30 June 2024, around four in every five prisoners were born in Australia (83% or 36,756). Prisoners born overseas accounted for 14% (6,202 prisoners).
The most common countries of birth for prisoners born overseas were:
(a) For a definition of most serious offence/charge, see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge section.
From 30 June 2023 to 30 June 2024, sentenced prisoners increased by 2% (393) to 26,281. The largest numerical changes by most serious offence were:
Over the same period, unsentenced prisoners increased by 13% (2,099) to 18,036. The largest numerical changes by most serious charge were:
The proportion of prisoners who were unsentenced increased from 38% to 41%, the highest proportion since the beginning of the time series in 1994.
As at 30 June 2024, the commonest most serious offence/charges were:
(a) For a definition of most serious offence/charge, see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge section.
From 30 June 2023 to 30 June 2024, the number of prisoners increased 6% (2,474) to 44,403. The largest numerical changes by most serious offence/charge were:
(a) For a definition of most serious offence/charge, see Methodology, Most serious offence/charge section.
From 30 June 2023 to 30 June 2024, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners increased by 15% (2,019) to 15,871. The largest numerical changes by most serious offence/charge were:
The age-standardised imprisonment rate increased from 2,266 to 2,559 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population.
At 30 June 2024:
From 30 June 2023 to 30 June 2024, federal prisoners nationally decreased by 2% (32) to 1,324.
At 30 June 2024, almost three quarters (71% or 945) of the total federal prisoners were held in New South Wales (43%) or Victoria (28%).
Male federal prisoners decreased by 2% (30) to 1,255 and female prisoners decreased by 16% (12) to 64.
On average, federal prisoners were older than the total prisoner population, with a median age of 41 years compared to 37 years.
10 April 2025: New information has been released on statistics about federal offenders (prisoners and parolees) under the authority of corrective services agencies at 30 June 2024.
31 March 2025: Updated information added to the Prisoners in Australia methodology about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population data that is used to calculate imprisonment rates.
This release previously used catalogue number 4517.0.
All persons remanded or sentenced to adult custodial corrective services agencies in each state and territory in Australia on June 30.
Data are available for:
The statistics in this publication are derived from information held in administrative systems which are maintained by corrective services agencies within each state and territory.
Administrative data for all persons are collected annually following the June 30 reference date.
Not applicable for this release.