The health of people in Australia's prisons 2022

Prison entrants and prison dischargees were asked to rate how concerned they were about:

• their current imprisonment
• family or relationships in the community
• relationships in prison
• mental health issues
• physical health issues
• tobacco, alcohol and/or other drugs
• any other particular issue.

Prison dischargees were also asked how concerned they were about their upcoming release.

For prison entrants, the most common causes of a lot of distress were:

• family or relationships in the community (42%)
• current imprisonment (33%)
• mental health issues (19%)
• physical health issues (14%)
• issues around tobacco, alcohol and other drugs (11%)
• relationships in prison (7.8%) (Figure 5.8).

Results were generally lower for prison dischargees with the most common cause of a lot of distress being:

• family or relationships in the community (17%)
• upcoming release (15%)
• mental health issues (11%)
• current imprisonment (10%)
• physical health issues (10%)
• issues around tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs (10%)
• relationships in prison (3.2%) (Figure 5.9).

Figure 5.8: Prison entrants’ level of distress, by reason for distress, 2022

Notes

1. Proportions are representative of this data collection only, and not the entire prison population.
2. Excludes Victoria, which did not provide data for this item.

Source: Entrants form, 2022 NPHDC.

Figure 5.9: Prison dischargees’ level of distress, by reason for distress, 2022

Notes

1. Proportions are proportions in this data collection only, and not the entire prison population.
2. Excludes Victoria, which did not provide data for this item.

Source: Dischargees form, 2022 NPHDC.