• Australia’s prison population increased by 3% last year, with an average of 23,816 people behind bars at any one time.

• Tasmania recorded a 17% jump in incarcerations last year.

• The Northern Territory has the highest incarceration rate: In 2004, 532 people out of every 100,000 were prisoners, compared with a national average of 154 prisoners per 100,000 adults.

• Western Australia had the second-highest incarceration rate, increasing 10% from 2003 to 2004.

[Source: The Australian, 31/03/05. Got a shockfact? Email <glw@greenleft.org.au>.]

From Green Left Weekly, April 27, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

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