The Second Convict Age: Explaining the Return of Mass Imprisonment in Australia

Abstract

Constructing a new series of incarceration rates from 1860 to 2018, I find that Australia now incarcerates a greater share of the adult population than at any point since the late nineteenth century. Much of this increase has occurred since the mid‐1980s. Since 1985, the Australian incarceration rate has risen by 130 per cent, and now stands at 0.22 per cent of adults (221 prisoners per 100,000 adults). Recalculating Indigenous incarceration rates so that they are comparable over a long time‐span, I find that incarceration rates for Indigenous Australians have risen dramatically. Fully 2.5 per cent of Indigenous adults are incarcerated (2,481 prisoners per 100,000 adults), a higher share than among African‐Americans. The recent increase in the Australian prison population does not seem to be due to crime rates, which have mostly declined over the past generation. Instead, higher reporting rates, stricter policing practices, tougher sentencing laws, and more stringent bail laws appear to be the main drivers of Australia's growing prison population.

Applying Crime Prevention and Health Promotion Frameworks to the Problem of High Incarceration Rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Populations: Lessons from a Case Study from Victoria

“…Incarceration rates are rising in many countries, including the US (The Sentencing Project, 2019) and Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019), whilst remaining steady or declining in some European countries (World Health Organization [WHO] Regional Office for Europe, 2019). The Australian imprisonment rate (which includes those in prisons and those detained in remand centres) has increased by 130% since 1985 (Leigh, 2019). The 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (Dodson et al, 1991) highlighted the high incarceration rates of Indigenous people and deaths in custody, and how these are linked to colonisation, social and economic disadvantage, and social control.…”

Reducing Incarceration Rates in Australia Through Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Crime Prevention

“…Overall increases in incarceration rates across jurisdictions have been attributed to the increasingly punitive nature of prison reforms over recent years, high remand rates in some jurisdictions (Tubex et al, 2016), higher reporting rates, stricter policing practices, tougher sentencing laws, and more stringent bail laws (Leigh, 2019). The overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the corrections system has been explained (a) institutionalized racism and the structural racialisation of punishment and (b) structural disadvantage leading to a greater involvement in crime (Tubex et al, 2016).…”

“…Incarceration rates have fluctuated (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001), but Australia currently has the highest incarceration rate since federation (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001, 2019). Over recent decades, the imprisonment rate has steadily increased (see Table 1) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018b), since 1985 by 130% (Leigh, 2019), and from 2013 to 2018, the number of people in full-time custody in Australia increased by 39% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018a). The average imprisonment rate (221 per 100,000) in Australia is now higher than that of Victoria in its early colonial days (210 per 100,000 in 1870 (Millar & Vedelago, 2019, June 27).…”

“…The average imprisonment rate (221 per 100,000) in Australia is now higher than that of Victoria in its early colonial days (210 per 100,000 in 1870 (Millar & Vedelago, 2019, June 27). The rate of imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia is much higher than that of other Australians (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017, 2018b; Leigh, 2019) (see Table 2). There is also a strong association between people with mental health disorders and imprisonment rates (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2015; Baldry, 2014; Victorian Government, 2019).…”

“…Even the Australian jurisdictions with the lowest imprisonment rate increases (VIC and TAS) have doubled their imprisonment rate since the 1980s (Leigh, 2019); however, differences across jurisdictions are still evident and can be explained by local penal practices and cultures (Tubex et al, 2016) and the extent of mental health treatment services provided.…”