Australia Sees Dramatic Surge in Prison Population
According to figures released by the Productivity Commission (PC), the federal government's independent research and advisory body on economic, social and environmental issues, daily prison populations nationwide averaged 45,526 inmates throughout the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The figure represents a 5.9 percent jump from the previous financial year and marks the steepest count recorded since 2016-17.
Spending on correctional facilities also escalated sharply. Net operational costs for prisons across the nation reached 5.43 billion Australian dollars (approximately 3.8 billion U.S. dollars) during 2024-25—a 4.3 percent increase year-over-year and a dramatic 49.3 percent surge over the past decade, the PC reported.
Recidivism rates have similarly climbed to troubling levels. The share of released prisoners who returned to custody with fresh convictions within two years rose to 44.5 percent in 2024-25, the highest proportion recorded in six years.
The crisis proved even more severe among Indigenous communities. For Indigenous Australians, the two-year reoffending rate reached 57.0 percent in 2024-25, up from 54.8 percent the prior year.
One area showed improvement: deaths during police detention dropped significantly. The report documented 22 fatalities in police custody throughout 2024-25, a notable decline from the 18-year peak of 41 deaths recorded in 2022-23.
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