ABS 4512.0 - Persons in Corrective Services, Australia, March quarter 2018

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS -
PERSONS IN CORRECTIVE SERVICES - AUSTRALIA

The Corrective Services, Australia publication presents data for two different populations;
*    persons in full-time custody; and
*    persons in community-based corrections.

These populations cannot be compared directly. However, they are presented together to provide an overview of persons in corrective services. For the community-based corrections population, offenders may be counted more than once if they have two or more different types of community-based corrections orders operating simultaneously.

	Mar Qtr 18	Dec Qtr 17 to Mar Qtr 18 % change	Mar Qtr 17 to Mar Qtr 18 % change
Persons in full-time custody	42,102	2.0%	3.8%
Persons in community-based corrections	68,964	-0.3%	2.5%

PERSONS IN CUSTODY
In the March quarter 2018, the average daily number of full-time prisoners in Australia was 42,102. This was an increase of:

• 2% (832 persons) from the December quarter 2017; and

• 4% (1,525 persons) from the March quarter 2017.

In the March quarter 2018, the largest contributors to the national prisoner population were:

• New South Wales (32% or 13,382 persons);
• Queensland (21% or 8,736 persons);
• Victoria (17% or 7,235 persons); and
• Western Australia (16% or 6,814 persons). (Table 1)

Sex
The average daily number of males and females in custody both increased by 4% since the March quarter 2017 (1,378 persons and 147 persons respectively). (Table 1)

Over the past five years, the number of -

*        males in custody increased by 37% (10,436 persons); and

*        females in custody increased by 53% (1,210 persons). (Table 1 and historical data)

For the March quarter 2018, the average daily imprisonment rate for males was 408 persons per 100,000 adult male population, which was more than 11 times the rate for females (36 female persons per 100,000 adult female population). (Table 5)

Type of full-time custody
Prisoners can be housed in either:

• Secure custody, where they are held in medium or maximum security custodial facilities requiring them to be confined by a secure physical barrier; or
• Open custody, where they are housed in minimum security custodial facilities that do not require them to be confined by a secure parameter or physical barrier, irrespective of whether a physical barrier exists.

During the March quarter 2018, 80% of prisoners in full-time custody were held in secure custody and the remaining 20% in open custody, representing an average daily number of 33,752 and 8,350 persons respectively.

Since the March quarter 2017, the secure custody prisoner population increased by 5% (1,596 persons) and the open custody prisoner population decreased by 1% (71 persons). (Table 6)

Legal status
Legal status refers to where a person may be either sentenced or unsentenced depending on the warrant(s) or court order(s) that provide the legal basis for the administration of the person through the criminal justice system. 

In the March quarter 2018, the average number of full-time prisoners on the first day of the month was 41,839, of which:

• 66% (27,792) were sentenced; and
• 33% (13,973) were unsentenced. (Table 8)

• Western Australia (4,132 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population);
• Northern Territory (2,944 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population); and
• South Australia (2,636 persons per 100,000 adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population). (Table 12)

• a decrease of less than 1% (191 persons) from the December quarter 2017; and
• an increase of 2% (1,668 persons) from the March quarter 2017. (Table 1)

Three states accounted for over three-quarters of the national number of persons in community-based corrections:

• Queensland (29% or 20,012 persons);
• New South Wales (28% or 19,065 persons); and
• Victoria (21% or 14,821 persons). (Table 1)

Over the past five years (since the March quarter 2013), persons serving community-based corrections orders increased 29% or 15,551 persons. (Table 1 and historical data) 

Sex
In the March quarter 2018, males accounted for 80% (55,462 persons) of the total persons serving community-based correction orders and females the remaining 20% (13,482). (Table 15)

Over the past five years (since March quarter 2013), females serving community-based correction orders have increased at a higher rate than males, increasing by 42% (or 3,991 persons) compared to males by 26% (or 11,570). (Table 15 and historical data)

Type of orders
In the March quarter 2018, the three most prevalent order types in Australia were:

• Sentenced probation (55% or 40,638 persons);
• Parole (22% or 16,067 persons); and
• Community service orders (15% or 10,899 persons). (Table 17)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons in community-based corrections
Nationally, the average daily number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons in community-based corrections for the March quarter 2018 was 14,314, representing an decrease of 1% (124 persons) from the previous quarter and an increase of 6% (859 persons) over the year.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons make up just over one fifth (21%) of the total community-based corrections population, of which three-quarters were located in three states: Queensland (32% or 4,627 persons); New South Wales (32% or 4,513 persons); and Western Australia (12% or 1,712 persons). (Table 18)

PRISONER RECEPTIONS
A reception refers to the entry into full-time adult corrective services custody from the community.

In the March quarter 2018, there were 17,300 prisoner receptions in Australia, of which 86% (14,839 persons) were male and 14% (2,461 persons) were female. (Data cube 2, Table 2)

Since the December quarter 2017, prisoner receptions increased by 5% (877 persons) and by 3% (458 persons) for the year. (Data cube 2, Table 1)

Of the 17,300 prisoner receptions in the March quarter 2018:

• 75% (13,061 persons) were unsentenced; and
• 25% (4,239 persons) were sentenced. (Data cube 2, Table 1)

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