Crime and criminal justice statistics
Female prisoners
Overview
Males dominate the prisoner population comprising 93% (23,963) of the total in 2006, whilst females comprised 7% (1,827). The number of female prisoners increased by 5% (93) from 30 June 2005, whilst the number of male prisoners increased by 1% (344) for this same period. Over the last 10 years the number of female prisoners has increased by 90% from 964 at 30 June 1996 to 1,827 at 30 June 2006. The number of male prisoners has increased by 39% from 17,229 to 23,963 for the same period.
The imprisonment rate for males in 2006 was 308 prisoners per 100,000 adult male population, 13 times more than for females (23 prisoners per 100,000 adult female population).
Between 1984 and 2003, there was a 75% increase in the imprisonment rate per 100.000 male adults (age 17 and over) for men where as the equivalent rate for women soared by 209%.
In 2006, New South Wales had the highest proportion of female prisoners (8% or 740 female prisoners), whilst the lowest proportion was in the Northern Territory (4% or 35 female prisoners).
Sources:
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, Prisoners in Australia 2006, cat. no. 4517.0, ABS, Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004, Australian social trends 2004, cat.no. 4102.0, ABS, Canberra.
Australian Institute of Criminology 1984, Australian prisoners, AIC, Canberra.
Number of female prisoners in Australia, 1984-2006
Download raw data (.csv file)
Sources: Australian Institute of Criminology 1984-1993, Australian prisoners, AIC, Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1994-2006, Prisoners in Australia, cat. no. 4517.0, ABS, Canberra.
Charts/fact sheets
- Female prisoners, percentage of total prisoners : 1984 and 2003 | 1993-2003
- Female prisoners, rate per 100,000 female adults, 1984-2003
- Female prisoners, by age, numbers, 1993 and 2003
- Female prisoners, by most serious offence/charge, numbers, 1993 and 2003
- Incarcerated women prison population 1991 - 1999
Reports and publications
Australian
- Drugs and crime : a study of incarcerated female offenders
Holly Johnson, 2004 - Key findings from the Drug Use Careers of Female Offenders study
Holly Johnson, 2004 - Women in prison
Australian Bureau of Statistics. In Australian social trends, 2004 - Women in prison : why is the rate of incarceration increasing?
Karen Gelb. Evaluation crime and justice conference, 2003 - Profile of women in prison
Western Australia Department of Justice, 2002 - Women prisoners and correctional programs
Margaret Cameron, 2001 - Female prisoners : using imprisonment statistics to understand the place of women in the criminal justice system
Stuart Ross and Kay Forster. Women in corrections conference, 2000 - Profile of female offenders under community and custodial supervision in Queensland
Women's Policy Unit, Queensland Department of Corrective Services, 2000 - Women in prison : the criminal court perspective (PDF 214kB)
Jacqueline Fitzgerald. New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research brief, 1999 - Women in prison (PDF 108kB)
Anne Edwards. New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 1995 - Women and crime : imprisonment issues
Patricia Weiser Easteal, 1992
Other countries
- Forecasts of the male and female sentenced prison populations, 2004
New Zealand Ministry of Justice - Women and girls in the criminal justice system : facts and figures
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (US) - Statistical overview - women offenders
Statistics Canada, 2000
Related links
- Statistics: Corrections statistics; Female offenders Age and gender of alleged offenders
- Topics: Corrections; Women and crime