Appendices
- Appendix A: State and territory imprisonment rates
- Appendix B: Comparative rates of imprisonment in western countries
- Appendix C: Indigenous rates of imprisonment
- Appendix D: Length of sentences
- Appendix E: Juvenile incarceration information
- Appendix F: Out of home care placements
- Appendix G: States and territories comparative imprisonment statistics
Appendix A: State and territory imprisonment rates
The state and territory imprisonment rates for 2000-01 are depicted in table 1. The Northern Territory had the highest imprisonment rate (510 per 100 000 adults) followed by Western Australia and New South Wales (218 and 175 prisoners per 100 000 adult population respectively).
Figure 1: Imprisonment rate per 100 000 adult population at 30 June 2001
Note: (a) Rate per 100 000 adult population at 30 June 2001
Source: ABS 2002, p.1
Appendix B: Comparative rates of imprisonment in western countries
Figure 2: Comparative imprisonment rate per 100 000 population in Western Australia and across selected countries
Source: International Centre for Prison Studies (June 2001) cited in Department of Justice (2002c)
Appendix C: Indigenous rates of imprisonment
Figure 3: Indigenous imprisonment rate per 100 000 adult population at 30 June 2001
Source: ABS 2001, p.2
Appendix D: Length of sentences
| Length of sentence | NSW(c) % |
Vic % |
Qld % |
SA % |
WA % |
Tas % |
NT % |
ACT(c) % |
Aust. % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Less than 1 year |
17.3 |
27.5 |
16.1 |
9.1 |
13.9 |
31.3 |
31.4 |
10.9 |
18.3 |
1 to <5 years |
32.3 |
39.8 |
35.1 |
40.7 |
43.0 |
42.9 |
43.0 |
38.1 |
36.4 |
5 to <10 years |
20.3 |
19.0 |
26.6 |
28.4 |
22.8 |
9.0 |
12.8 |
31.3 |
21.8 |
10 years and over |
11.4 |
12.1 |
13.7 |
10.4 |
12.9 |
7.4 |
6.3 |
17.0 |
11.9 |
Indeterminate (eg life) |
1.7 |
1.7 |
8.5 |
11.5 |
7.3 |
9.4 |
6.5 |
2.7 |
4.7 |
Notes:
(a) Excludes periodic detainees who comprised 6.9 per cent of all sentenced prisoners nationally (periodic detention applies only in New South Wales and in the Australian Capital Territory).
(b) The aggregate sentence is the longest period that the offender may be detained under sentence in the current episode. Charges pending which are likely to extend the current episode are ignored.
(c) Prisoners sentenced to full-time custody in the Australian Capital Territory are held in New South Wales prisons and are also included in the New South Wales figures.
Source: Prisoners in Australia 2000, Companion Data (4517.0).
Appendix E: Juvenile incarceration information
Juveniles
- On census night in the year 2000 there were 671 juveniles in detention in Australia (604 males and 67 females). New South Wales had the highest number of juveniles in detention (274), followed by Western Australia (115) and Queensland (104).
- Given the differences among jurisdictions on the definition of a juvenile, statistics are shown for people aged between 10 and 17 years (Cahill & Marshall 2002).
- Figures produced by the Australian Institute of Criminology (2000) show that the national rate of imprisonment fell from 37 per 100 000 children in 1998 to 31.5 per 100 000 in 2000. Tasmania has the highest rate of juvenile detention (66.5 per 100 000 juveniles) followed by the Northern Territory (60.7) and Western Australia (51.9 per 100 000).
- 'The majority of young people who offend do so only once and then desist' (Standing Committee on Law and Justice 1999b, p.xiv).
- 'Young people with a mental illness are at particular risk of contact with the criminal justice system. They are vulnerable to becoming victims of crime and becoming homeless. The situation in the rural areas is particularly acute, with jail sometimes being the only institution available with facilities for the mentally ill. This is an illustration of how inadequate social supports leave criminal justice agencies as a dumping ground for social problems' (Standing Committee on Law and Justice 1999b, p.xiv).
Appendix F: Out of home care placements
Figure 4: Children exiting care after less than 12 months by number of different placements 2000-01(a)(b)
Notes:
(a) Data refer to children exiting care in 2000-01
(b) Out-of-home care data are not the same for each state and territory
Source: SCRCSSP 2002, p.809-810
Figure 5: Children exiting care after more than 12 months by number of different placements 2000-01(a)(b)
Notes:
(a) Data refer to children exiting care in 2000-01
(b) Out-of-home care data are not the same for each state and territory
Source: SCRCSSP 2002, p.809-810
Appendix G: States and territories comparative imprisonment statistics
| NSW(a) | VIC | QLD | SA | WA | TAS | NT | ACT in ACT |
ACT in NSW |
Aust.(b) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | ||||||||||
Males |
8226 |
3144 |
4227 |
1310 |
2952 |
326 |
698 |
77 |
117 |
20 960 |
Females |
620 |
247 |
290 |
79 |
218 |
20 |
19 |
5 |
12 |
1498 |
Indigenous |
1339 |
150 |
1146 |
230 |
1072 |
40 |
456 |
12 |
8 |
4445 |
Non-Indigenous |
7419 |
3234 |
3371 |
1027 |
2098 |
306 |
261 |
70 |
121 |
17 786 |
Unknown |
88 |
7 |
- |
132 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
227 |
Sentenced |
7206 |
2892 |
3610 |
913 |
2613 |
272 |
588 |
29 |
129 |
18 123 |
Unsentenced |
1640 |
499 |
907 |
476 |
557 |
74 |
129 |
53 |
- |
4335 |
Federal |
585 |
127 |
22 |
- |
189 |
6 |
144 |
1 |
4 |
1074 |
Non-federal |
8261 |
3264 |
4495 |
1389 |
2981 |
340 |
573 |
81 |
125 |
21 384 |
All prisoners |
8846 |
3391 |
4517 |
1389 |
3170 |
346 |
717 |
82 |
129 |
22 458 |
Proportion (%) | ||||||||||
Males |
93.0 |
92.7 |
93.6 |
94.3 |
93.1 |
94.2 |
97.4 |
93.9 |
90.7 |
93.3 |
Females |
7.0 |
7.3 |
6.4 |
5.7 |
6.9 |
5.8 |
2.6 |
6.1 |
9.3 |
6.7 |
Indigenous |
15.1 |
4.4 |
25.4 |
16.6 |
33.8 |
11.6 |
63.6 |
14.6 |
6.2 |
19.8 |
Non-Indigenous |
83.9 |
95.4 |
74.6 |
73.9 |
66.2 |
88.4 |
36.4 |
85.4 |
93.8 |
79.2 |
Unknown |
1.0 |
0.2 |
- |
9.5 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1.0 |
Sentenced |
81.5 |
85.3 |
79.9 |
65.7 |
82.4 |
78.6 |
82.0 |
35.4 |
100.0 |
80.7 |
Unsentenced |
18.5 |
14.7 |
20.1 |
34.3 |
17.6 |
21.4 |
18.0 |
64.6 |
- |
19.3 |
Federal |
6.6 |
3.7 |
0.5 |
- |
6.0 |
1.7 |
20.1 |
1.2 |
3.1 |
4.8 |
Non-federal |
93.4 |
96.3 |
99.5 |
100.0 |
94.0 |
98.3 |
79.9 |
98.8 |
96.9 |
95.2 |
All prisoners |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
Notes:
(a) A majority of full-time prisoners sentenced in the ACT are held in NSW prisons.
(b) The ACT in NSW figures are a subset of the NSW figures and are not separately counted in the Australian totals.
Source: ABS 2002, p.3. Downloaded on 28 March 2002.