NSW holds more prisoners behind bars than any other state or territory: there are currently more than 12,800 offenders behind bars, an increase of 18 per cent since 2014.
After 2018, the number of prisoners has been on a general trend of decline due to fewer numbers of non-violent offenders being incarcerated. This followed sentencing reform in September 2018 that extended the use of community-based sentencing in an effort to combat a rising incarceration rate, and in particular short term prison sentences.
Figure 1: Average number of adult prisoners by year
