VIC Indigenous imprisonment rate compared to Australian imprisonment rate

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

 

Total

Indigenous

Non-Indigenous

 

Vic.

Aust.

Vic.

Aust.

Vic.

Aust.

1982

60.8

89.8

-

-

-

-

1983

68.1

91.6

-

-

-

-

1984

62

85.6

-

-

-

-

1985

62.1

94.1

-

-

-

-

1986

63.5

97.6

-

-

-

-

1987

62.4

100.8

-

-

-

-

1988

65

100.4

677.4

1233.9

-

-

1989

69.6

103.5

869.6

1204.7

-

-

1990

70.3

112.2

865.3

1308.4

-

-

1991

69.2

116

767.9

1122.1

-

-

1992

67.5

118.3

871.1

1112.9

-

-

1993

67

119.2

846.9

1183

-

-

1994

73.9

125.5

1115.9

1340.8

-

-

1995

71.8

127.3

994.6

1399.2

-

-

1996

70.2

130.9

845.2

1517.7

-

-

1997

74.6

134.9

977.1

1572.2

-

-

1998

80.2

141.1

848.3

1,581.8

-

-

1999

81.0

150.7

810.9

1,778.3

-

-

2000

86.2

149.7

888.3

1,653.2

82.7

122.5

2001

91.3

152.5

946.0

1,753.5

87.4

122.8

2002

94.0

150.3

978.9

1,732.0

89.2

120.4

2003

98.3

154.9

1,029.3

1,818.0

94.2

122.8

2004

93.6

157.1

1,068.8

1,851.9

89.2

124.3

2005

94.2

162.5

1,223.7

2,021.2

89.0

125.3

2006

99.7

163.4

1,203.0

2,126.9

94.7

125.6

2007

104.6

169.4

1,288.5

2,255.5

99.1

129.2

2008

103.7

168.7

1,283.2

2,223.2

98.1

128.6

¹ Population of imprisonable age 18 years and over except for Victorian rates prior to 2006 which includes persons aged 17 years. On 1 July 2005, the Children and Young Persons (Age Jurisdiction) Act 2004 came into force and redefined adult as a person 18 years and over

Sources: Vic. & 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

Vic. 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>

Vic., Aust., Vic. Indigenous, Aust. Indigenous & Vic. 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, Victoria and Australia, 2000-2008

 

Vic.

Aust.

 

Indigenous

Non-Indigenous

Indigenous

Non-Indigenous

2000

669.1

85.8

1264.5

128

2001

701.7

87.3

1287.8

123.4

2002

734.0

89.7

1283.1

121.8

2003

786.6

95.3

1368.4

124.8

2004

810.5

90.7

1413.9

126.7

2005

983.2

91.2

1560.9

128.8

2006

940.4

96.5

1668.2

129.8

2007

999.5

100.8

1786.7

133.5

2008

1,016.1

100.3

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)