The health of people in Australia's prisons 2022

On 30 June 2022, there were approximately 40,600 people in Australia’s prisons. The number of people in Australia’s prisons increased by 38% between 2012 to 2022 and the imprisonment rate in the same period rose from 167 people in prison per 100,000 adults in the general population to 201 per 100,000 adults. Most people in prison were either on remand (37%) or serving sentences under 5 years in length (57%), and thousands of people enter and exit the prison system each year (ABS 2023a).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (referred to as First Nations people in this report) have a long history of, and continue to be, over-represented in Australia’s prisons (ABS 2023a; Johnston 1991). First Nations people represent 32% of the prison population and only 3.2% of the Australian population (ABS 2023b).

People in prison have substantial and complex health needs, which are often chronic. They have higher rates of mental health conditions, chronic disease, communicable disease, acquired brain injury, tobacco smoking, high-risk alcohol consumption, recent illicit drug use, and recent injecting drug use than the general population (AIHW 2019). Improving the health of people in prison, and maintaining those improvements after prison, benefits the entire community (Wallace & Wang 2020).

This report presents the results of the 6th National Prisoner Health Data Collection (NPHDC), conducted in 2022. Data was collected in 2-week periods, in all states and territories, except Victoria which did not participate. There were 371 prison entrants who volunteered to participate in a survey when entering prison during the 2-week data collection period; 431 prison dischargees volunteered to participate in a survey if scheduled for release during the 2-week data collection period or soon after. People in custody during the 2-week data collection period could participate if they visited a prison clinic.

Around half (52%) of prison entrants said they had a history of at least one of the following chronic physical health conditions:

• arthritis
• asthma
• back problem
• cancer
• cardiovascular disease
• kidney disease
• diabetes
• osteoporosis
• pulmonary disease.

Asthma (27%) and back pain (27%) were the most common chronic physical health conditions reported. Almost two-thirds (61%) of female entrants had a history of a chronic condition, compared with half (50%) of male entrants.

More than half of prison entrants (51%) reported a previous diagnosis of a mental health condition, including alcohol and other drug use disorders. Female entrants were more likely than male entrants to report:

• a history of a mental health condition (63% compared with 49%)
• currently taking medication for a mental health condition (28% compared with 19%).

Non-Indigenous prison entrants were more likely than First Nations entrants to report:

• a history of a mental health condition (60% compared with 43%)
• currently taking medication for a mental health condition (24% compared with 17%).

Just over 1 in 5 (21%) prison entrants reported a history of self-harm. Females entering prison (42%) were more than 2 times as likely as males (17%) to report a history of self-harm. More than 1 in 4 (29%) younger prison entrants (aged 18–24) reported a history of self-harm – higher than any other age group.

Most people (68%) entering prison reported they had been in prison before, and 2 in 5 (41%) prison entrants had been in prison within the previous 12 months.

Male prison entrants were more likely to have extensive prison histories than female entrants. About one-third (33%) of male entrants had been in prison 5 or more times, compared with 15% of female entrants.

First Nations prison entrants were more likely than non-Indigenous entrants to have an extensive prison history. About 2 in 5 (39%) First Nations entrants had been in prison at least 5 times before, compared with 22% of non-Indigenous entrants.

One in 4 (25%) prison entrants reported that one or more parents or carers had been in prison when they were a child. This was more than twice as likely among First Nations entrants (36%) than non-Indigenous entrants (15%).

Younger prison entrants (42% of those aged 18–24) were almost 3 times as likely as older entrants (16% of those aged 45 and over) to have had a parent or carer in prison during their childhood.

Two in 5 (40%) prison entrants reported having one or more dependent children. Of those who had dependent children, 32% had one child and 68% had 2 or more children.

Male prison entrants (41%) were more likely to have dependent children than female prison entrants (33%). First Nations prison entrants (47%) were more likely than non-Indigenous prison entrants (34%) to have dependent children.

Prison entrants were asked about the highest level of schooling that they had completed – nearly one-third (31%) said Year 9 or under. About 1 in 2 (52%) First Nations prison entrants had completed Year 10 and higher. Nearly 9 in 10 (86%) non-Indigenous entrants completed Year 10 and higher.

Almost half (43%) of prison entrants said they were homeless in the 4 weeks before prison – 36% were in short-term or emergency accommodation and 10% were in unconventional housing or sleeping rough.

Nearly half (48%) of prison dischargees expected to be homeless on release from prison, with 45% planning to sleep in short term or emergency accommodation and 2.8% planning to sleep rough.

Almost one-third (31%) of prison entrants reported consuming 7 or more standard drinks of alcohol on a typical day of drinking in the last 12 months. First Nations prison entrants (39%) were more likely than non-Indigenous prison entrants (23%) to report consuming at least 7 standard drinks of alcohol on a typical day of drinking in the previous 12 months.

Most (71%) prison entrants said they were current smokers. First Nations prison entrants (79%) were more likely than non-Indigenous entrants (64%) to be current smokers – females (75%) were more likely than males (70%). Almost 1 in 2 (48%) prison entrants who were current smokers said that they would like to quit.

Almost three-quarters (73%) of prison entrants reported using illicit drugs at least once during the previous 12 months.  Entrants aged 25–34 were most likely to report recent illicit drug use (82%) while those aged 45 and over were least likely (56%). Cannabis was the most common illicit drug used, followed by methamphetamine.

Almost 2 in 5 (37%) prison dischargees reported using illicit drugs in prison, and 1 in 7 (14%) said they had injected drugs in prison.

For a visual summary of the key report findings see The health of people in Australia's prisons 2022: At a glance infographic (PDF 1.10MB).