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Australian Corrections: Main Demographic Characteristics of Prison Populations

NCJ Number
182783
Author(s)
Carlos Carcach; Anna Grant
Date Published
April 2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper provides data on the demographic composition of the Australian prison population and its changes over the 10 years between 1988 and 1998.
Abstract
Among its findings are that the gender composition has remained stable; approximately 95 percent of the prison population is male. The study also found that there has been an increase in the median age of the prison population, because prisoners are spending longer in prison, and the age of admission to prison has increased. This finding has important implications, since it suggests that significant shifts in the length, duration, and intensity of criminal careers may have occurred during the 10 years covered by this study. There is evidence that prisoners are spending longer periods under detention despite the decline observed in lengths of sentence, which may have the net effect of increasing the median age of correctional populations. The study shows that three-quarters of prisoners were born in Australia, but that there are differences in the structure of offenses. Prisoners born in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland are more commonly remanded or sentenced for violent offenses. Drug offenses contribute a significant proportion of prisoners born in other countries, in particular Vietnam and other Asian countries. 8 figures and 9 references