Of the 7,735 full-time inmates in custody in New South Wales prisons at midnight on June 30, 2001, 716 were serving sentences of 6 months or less. The number of persons who would be affected by abolishing such sentences would be 712, or 9 percent of the total prison population. Approximately 10 percent of the inmates serving sentences of 6 months or less were females, and approximately 20 percent were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. The most serious offense for more than 90 percent of these inmates was a theft offense, a breach of justice orders, an assault, or a driving/traffic offense. Females were more likely than males to have a theft offense as their most serious offense, and they were less likely than males to have assault or a driving/traffic offense as their most serious offense. Compared with their non-indigenous counterparts, indigenous inmates were more likely to have assault or a breach of justice orders, but less likely to have a theft offense as their most serious offense. If prison sentences of 6 months or less were abolished, the number of new inmates received into New South Wales prisons would decrease from 150 inmates per week to 90 inmates per week, thus reducing the prison population by approximately 10 percent. There would be savings of between $33 million and $47 million per year in the recurrent costs of housing prisoners. The New South Wales Parliament's Select Committee on the Increase in Prisoner Population has recommended that prison sentences of 6 months or less be abolished and that non-custodial penalties be used instead. 4 tables and 2 figures