New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed that Western Australia’s incarceration rate experienced the highest increase of all Australian jurisdictions over the last 12 months.
Chart 1: Percentage increase to incarceration rate over the past 12 months
- The average number of full-time prisoners in custody in Western Australia was 7,733, an increase of 14 per cent since the same point last year.
- Across the state’s prisons, approximately 40 per cent of offenders have been incarcerated for a property crime or a crime that does not result in direct harm to a specific person (non-violent offenders), compared to the nationwide average of 38 per cent.
