Govt agency calls for ‘urgent' action as NSW prison population swells to five-year high amid alarming Indigenous incarceration rates
The total number of adults within correctional facilities across the state reached 13,103 in March, the highest since March 2020, a report released on Wednesday revealed.
A steep decline in prisoner numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by a relatively stable period, but inmate levels have been rising steadily over the past 18 months.
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) quarterly report said the number of adults incarcerated in NSW has spiked by 1,055 people, or 8.8 per cent, since November 2023.
BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said while the 'overall' prison population remains below pre-pandemic levels, the number of Aboriginal inmates now 'well exceeds' levels in 2019 and 'continues to grow'.
The report said the increase is due to a surge in Aboriginal remandees, who are unconvicted prisoners awaiting court hearings.
The number of Indigenous remandees rose by 63 per cent in the five years to March 2025, with domestic violence allegations accounting for a large part of the increase in Aboriginal adults being remanded, it said.
'These figures underscore the urgent need to consider policies, interventions and practice changes to reduce Aboriginal incarceration, as current trends contradict the Closing the Gap commitment to reduce Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system by at least 15% by 2031,' Ms Fitzgerald said.
The Closing the Gap commitments includes reducing the rate of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in detention facilities by 30 per cent by 2031.
BOSCAR's quarterly update said there were 4,244 Aboriginal prisoners in NSW as of March this year, who represented 32 per cent of the state's total adult inmates.
There had been an increase of 520 Aboriginal inmates, or 14 per cent, since November 2023, while the number of non-Aboriginal prisoners was up by 359 people, or 4.3 per cent, over the same period.
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