NT Indigenous imprisonment rate compared to Australian imprisonment rate

Crude adult imprisonment rates comparing NT Indigenous trends to NT total and Australian total, per 100,000, 1982-2008¹

 

Total

Indigenous

Non-Indigenous

 

NT

Aust.

NT

Aust.

NT

Aust.

1982

369.3

89.8

-

-

-

-

1983

292.9

91.6

-

-

-

-

1984

266.3

85.6

-

-

-

-

1985

339

94.1

-

-

-

-

1986

412.4

97.6

-

-

-

-

1987

435.5

100.8

-

-

-

-

1988

352.7

100.4

1212.9

1233.9

-

-

1989

319.2

103.5

1031.9

1204.7

-

-

1990

369.9

112.2

1182.6

1308.4

-

-

1991

407.9

116

1244

1122.1

-

-

1992

386.9

118.3

1175.5

1112.9

-

-

1993

360.5

119.2

1135.9

1183

-

-

1994

383.4

125.5

1149.7

1340.8

-

-

1995

389.8

127.3

1159.9

1399.2

-

-

1996

391.1

130.9

1205.3

1517.7

-

-

1997

454.8

134.9

1424.8

1572.2

-

-

1998

485.7

141.1

1,513.1

1,581.8

-

-

1999

463.3

150.7

1,522.0

1,778.3

-

-

2000

467.3

149.7

1,199.8

1,653.2

240.1

122.5

2001

520.7

152.5

1,383.9

1,753.5

249.1

122.8

2002

479.8

150.3

1,367.0

1,732.0

197.3

120.4

2003

524.3

154.9

1,663.5

1,818.0

150.9

122.8

2004

512.6

157.1

1,589.4

1,851.9

153.5

124.3

2005

575.5

162.5

1,855.9

2,021.2

147.1

125.3

2006

542.1

163.4

1,790.5

2,126.9

126.8

125.6

2007

595.2

169.4

2,046.6

2,255.5

126.1

129.2

2008

609.7

168.7

2,092.4

2,223.2

135.1

128.6

¹ Population of imprisonable age 18 years and over

Sources: NT & Aust. 1982-1997, Carcach, C & Grant, A 1999, 'Imprisonment in Australia: Trends in Prison Populations & Imprisonment Rates 1982-1998,' Australian Institute of Criminology, Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No.130, p.3.
http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/C/C/1/%7BCC182C2A-81F8-4242-9A11-A9A0E97B919D%7Dti130.pdf

NT Indigenous and Aust. Indigenous Rates 1988-1997, Carcach, C, Grant, A, & Conroy, R 1999, ‘Australian Corrections: The imprisonment of Indigenous people’, Australian Institute of Criminology, Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No.137, p.2.
http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/5/1/4/%7B514A1BEC-D92E-4D66-B4BB-84D68BF4CF2E%7Dti137.pdf

NT, Aust., NT Indigenous, Aust. Indigenous, NT Non-Indigenous Rates & Aust. Non-Indigenous rates 1998-2008, Australian Bureau of Statistics 2008, Prisoners in Australia, Cat. no. 4517.0, DO016_2008, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4517.0Main+Features12008?OpenDocument

*Age standardised rates take into account the differences in age distribution between Australia's Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, which crude rates ignore. Because of this, crude rates are likely to overestimate rates of Indigenous incarceration, since Indigenous populations have significantly larger proportions of young people.  ABS age standardised rates begin from the year 2000, and it is believed that ABS will continue to employ this statistical method in the future.  The population standardised against is the Total Australian Estimated Resident Population at 30 June 2001.

Age standardised imprisonment rates by Indigenous status, per 100,000, NT and Australia, 2000-2008

 

NT

Aust.

 

Indigenous

Non-Indigenous

Indigenous

Non-Indigenous

2000

911.6

226.0

1264.5

128

2001

1,027.4

235.0

1287.8

123.4

2002

1,004.2

179.2

1283.1

121.8

2003

1,255.2

137.2

1368.4

124.8

2004

1,218.7

141.0

1413.9

126.7

2005

1,440.9

134.7

1560.9

128.8

2006

1,416.3

115.1

1668.2

129.8

2007

1,602.9

117.0

1786.7

133.5

2008

1,678.7

127.5

1769.4

133.3

Source:  Australian Bureau of Statistics 2008, Prisoners in Australia, Cat. no. 4517.0, DO017_2008, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, viewed September 2009, <http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4517.0Main+Features12008?OpenDocument>.
(The National Prisoner Census data collected 30 June each year)