Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

By 2031, reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults held in incarceration by at least 15%.

Mental health, substance abuse issues, family history of incarceration, employment post release, history of victimisation

There are five measures for this indicator.

Measure 1 is the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison who have ever been told that they suffer from a mental health disorder

Numerator – Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison who have ever been told that they suffer from a mental health disorder

Denominator – Total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison

and is presented as a percentage.

Measure 2 is the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison who have used illicit substances

Numerator – Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison who have used illicit substances

Denominator – Total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison

and is presented as a percentage.

Measure 3 is the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison with a family history of incarceration

Numerator – Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison with a family history of incarceration

Denominator – Total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people entering prison

and is presented as a percentage.

Measure 4 is the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people discharged from prison with paid employment within two weeks of release from prison

Numerator – Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people discharged from prison with paid employment within two weeks of release from prison

Denominator – Total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people released from prison

and is presented as a percentage.

Measure 5 is the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people discharged from prison that were physically assaulted or attacked by another prisoner in prison.

Numerator – Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander discharges from prison that were physically assaulted or attacked by another prisoner in prison.

Denominator – Total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people released from prison

and is presented as a percentage.

National Agreement on Closing the Gap July 2020

31 July 2024

Driver

Measures 1, 2, 3 and 5

A low or decreasing proportion is desirable.

Measure 4

A high or increasing proportion is desirable.

All measures

Name: National Prisoner Health Data Collection (NPHDC) 

Frequency: Three-yearly (approximately)

Documentation (links): National Prisoner Health Data - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (aihw.gov.au)

All measures

Provider name: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

Provider area: Prisoner health

2018

2022

Australia, by Indigenous status.

State and territory and Australia.

Numerator divided by Denominator multiplied by 100

Counting rules

In 2018, the NPHDC collected data from 62 out of 70 public and private prisons in all states and territories in Australia, excluding New South Wales. Periodic detention centres and court cells administered by corrective services, juvenile detention centres, immigration detention centres, and secure psychiatric facilities were excluded.

Numerator (measure 1)

The data on people entering prison who have been told that they have a mental health disorder is from a self‑reported indicator of whether a person has ever been told by a doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist or mental health nurse that they suffer from a mental health disorder (including drug and alcohol abuse).

Numerator (measure 2):

The data on people entering prison who have used illicit substances is from a self‑reported cluster of indicators on whether a person has used a substance in an illicit manner. Includes use of:

• any drug that is illegal to possess or use
• any legal drug used in an illegal manner, such as a drug obtained on prescription (but given or sold to another person to use) or glue or petrol which is sold legally (but is used in a manner that is not intended, such as inhaling fumes)
• stolen pharmaceuticals sold on the black market (such as pethidine)
• any drug used for ‘non-medical purposes’, which means drugs used: either alone or with other drugs to induce or enhance a drug experience; for performance enhancement (for example, athletic); or for cosmetic purposes (for example, body shaping).

Numerator (measure 3):

The data on people entering prison with a family history of incarceration is from a self‑reported indicator on whether a person’s mother, father, or other carer was imprisoned during the childhood of the prison entrant.

Numerator (measure 4):

The data on people to be discharged from prison with paid employment within two weeks of release from prison is from a self‑reported indicator. Dischargees report whether they have paid employment (full‑time, part‑time or casual/contract) organised to start within two weeks of release from prison.

Numerator (measure 5):

The data on people to be discharged from prison who reported that they had been physically assaulted or attacked by another prisoner in prison is a self-reported indicator. Physical assault and attack includes intentional acts of direct infliction of force or violence, intentional acts of indirect and non-confrontational force or violence, such as stalking resulting in physical harm to individuals, administration of illicit drugs, poison, drink/food spiking and setting traps.

Physical assault and attack excludes sexual assault or non‑intentional acts of force or violence.

Denominator (measures 1, 2 and 3)

A person aged 18 years or over, entering full‑time prison custody, either on remand (awaiting a trial or sentencing) or on a sentence. Prisoners who have been transferred from one prison to another are not included as entrants.

Information about the prison entrant is collected by a health professional at the prison reception health assessment (alternatively known as the intake or induction assessment) using the Prison Entrants form.

Denominator (measures 4 and 5)

A full‑time prisoner aged 18 years or over, who expects to be released from prison within the four weeks following the time of interview.

Information about the prison dischargee is collected by a health professional during a discharge clinic visit using the Prison Discharge form.

Excluded from the collection are periodic detention centres, court and police cells, juvenile detention centres, immigration detention centres, secure psychiatric facilities, military prisons, home detention programs, and Australians held overseas.

In 2018, the NPHDC excluded New South Wales. It collected data from 62 out of 70 public and private prisons across other states and territories in Australia.

In 2022, the NPHDC excluded Victoria. It collected from 73 public and private prisons across other states and territories in Australia. The data was collected from

• Entrants’ forms – The response rate for the 2022 NPHDC entrants survey was 18% (23% in 2018). Of the entrants that completed the form, 49.3% were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Dischargee forms – The response rate for the 2022 NPHDC dischargees survey was 23% (17% in 2018). Of the dischargees that completed the form, 46.4% were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Data reported represent the sample in the data collection, and not the entire prison population. Some non-response bias is expected, but this bias has not been measured. Sampling and non-sampling errors have not been calculated but should be considered when interpreting results.

Not all people in prison (particularly prison entrants and dischargees) could be asked to be involved in the data collection. This might have been due to prison staffing constraints, physical or mental limitations of people, or uncertain release dates. Of those who could be approached, some did not provide consent to participate.

The majority of the data collected for the entrants and dischargees forms was self‑reported. That is, the participants (the prison entrants or prison dischargees) answered the survey questions. The main disadvantage of self‑reported data was that there were few ways to validate the responses beyond excluding those where the answers given were impossible (such as where a respondent might claim to be aged 1,000). Self‑reported data might be compared with other self‑reported data, but it is not directly comparable with reports and studies that use other data collection methods.

The 2022 NPHDC surveys used a multi-mode completion methodology – where participating jurisdictions and/or prisons could complete the surveys via online forms, or via paper forms. This was the first time an online form has been used in the NPHDC and has replaced the electronic android tablets used in previous cycles. Changes in mode may have some impact on responses, and users should exercise some degree of caution when comparing data between collections.

There are methodological differences between NPHDC collections affecting comparability over time. Caution should be used in making comparisons between different years of the collection.

Measure 1

Excludes people who have an undiagnosed mental health disorder (that is, they suffer from a mental health disorder, but have not been told by a doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist or mental health nurse that they suffer from a mental health disorder).

Future reporting will seek to include the following additional disaggregations:

• remoteness areas and other geographic categories available
• socio‑economic status of the locality
• age
• gender
• disability status.