Oceania · Australia and New Zealand

Australia

High confidence

Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 30 Jun 2025

Fresh · 1mo ago

Eight state/territory systems. Indigenous Australians over-represented at ~32% of the prison population (~3% of national population).

Compare Australia World Prison Brief page

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

Prison population

46,998

Year: 2025

Rate per 100,000

170

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

112.2%

Above design capacity

Pre-trial / remand

42.2%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

8.2%

Foreign nationals

13.9%

Conditions risk — across 262 facilities

Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk

5/100

national average

2 low 260 unknown

abolitionist on capital punishment since 1985. Last known execution: 1967.ICCPR-OP2 (death-penalty abolition protocol): signatory

Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

Source: Amnesty International + Cornell Death Penalty Worldwide.

1 documented human-rights cases →

How Australia compares

vs regional & global averages

Rate per 100,000this: 170 · global: 214

Occupancy ratethis: 112% · global: 125%

Pre-trial sharethis: 42% · global: 32%

The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.

Prison population over time

Annual figures, latest survey year

2000: 21,714+116.4% over 25y2025: 46,998

Source: World Prison Brief / unodc / abs-au

Reform in Australia

All reform →

Laws, programmes, and pilots changing how Australia incarcerates — plus relevant research.

Maranguka Justice Reinvestment Project (Bourke, NSW)2013–ongoing
alternatives · active
Aboriginal-led project in the town of Bourke that redirects criminal-justice spending into community-driven prevention. Began 2013 with deep community partnership and data sharing with police, courts, and child-protection services.

Prisons in Australia

Browse all 262 →

262 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

Acacia Prison

Australia · Wooroloo

Medium

Type

Medium security

Capacity

1,433

Held

—

Acmena Juvenile Justice Centre

Australia · Grafton

Type

Juvenile

Capacity

Held

—

Adelaide Pre-Release Centre

Australia · Northfield

Minimum

Type

Minimum security

Capacity

104

Held

—

Adelaide Remand Centre

Australia · Adelaide

Maximum

Type

Maximum security

Capacity

274

Held

—

Adelaide Women's Prison

Australia · Northfield, Adelaide

Multi-level

Type

Closed female

Capacity

104

Held

—

Adelaide Womens Prison

Australia · Northfield

Type

Minimum to maximum security

Capacity

176

Held

—

Adelaide Youth Training Centre (Goldsborough Campus)

Australia · Cavan

Type

Juvenile

Capacity

Held

—

Adelaide Youth Training Centre (Jonal Drive Campus)

Australia · Cavan

Type

Juvenile

Capacity

Held

—

Albany Regional Prison

Australia · Albany

Maximum

Type

Minimum to maximum security

Capacity

510

Held

—

Alexander Maconochie Centre

Australia · Hume

Maximum

Type

Minimum to maximum security

Capacity

539

Held

—

Alice Springs Correction Centre

Australia · Hugh

Type

Medium to maximum security

Capacity

400

Held

—

Alice Springs Correctional Centre

Australia · Alice Springs

Maximum

Type

Multi-level

Capacity

400

Held

—

Alice Springs Juvenile Holding Centre

Australia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre

Australia · Hugh

Maximum

Type

Juvenile

Capacity

Held

—

Allambie Reception Centre

Australia

Type

—

Capacity

100

Held

—

Amber Laurel Correctional Centre

Australia · Emu Plains

Type

Minimum security

Capacity

Held

—

Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre

Australia · Wacol

Maximum

Type

Maximum security

Capacity

890

Held

—

Ashendene Boys Home

Australia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Ashley Youth Detention Centre

Australia · Deloraine

Type

Unknown

Capacity

Held

—

Australian internment camps in World War I

Australia

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Ballarat Gaol

Australia

Maximum

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Balund-a (Tabulam) Correctional Facility

Australia · Mookima Wybra

Type

Community corrections

Capacity

—

Held

—

Bandyup Women's Prison

Australia · Middle Swan, Perth

Maximum

Type

Closed female

Capacity

259

Held

—

Bandyup Womens Prison

Australia · West Swan

Type

Minimum to maximum security

Capacity

394

Held

—

See all 262 prisons in Australia →

Data completeness

100%

Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.

National population: 27,610,0002025
Source-verified: 20 May 2026
Source links: 1 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

Primary reference
World Prison Brief (ICPS, Birkbeck) — Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research
See /data-sources for our methodology.

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: AUS