Australia Reports Record High Prison Population
With overcrowded facilities, country is urged not to jail people for minor convictions
SYDNEY — Despite falling crime rates, imprisonment in Australia is at record levels, according to a new government report. Australia’s imprisonment rates have risen more than 35% over the last 20 years, a government research body report said Friday. , published by the Productivity Commission, an independent government research and advisory body, says the number of inmates is growing faster than in almost every other developed country. While imprisonment has increased, though, recorded crime has been falling. The commission reported that 35% of sentences in Australia are less than six months and for relatively minor offenses. Some experts say Australia needs to rethink its tough crime policies that were introduced in the late 1980s. They believe that prison should be for violent and high-risk offenders. Don Weatherburn is the former director of the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that most people convicted of minor offenses should not be jailed. “The reason is obvious. They keep their job, they keep their family and all the incentives are for staying out of trouble. Whereas if you go to prison, you will have trouble getting a job when you come out of prison, and if you do get a job it will be a lowly paid job. So, in many cases, not all, prison causes more harm than good,” Weatherburn said. Keeping people in jail in Australia is expensive, around $250 per prisoner per day. Campaigners believe there are effective alternatives, such as home detention, where offenders are monitored, along with drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs. The report has been sent to Australia’s state and federal authorities. The current center-right government, however, appears unlikely to alter its corrections policies. A spokesperson said it would not “weaken its stance when it comes to fighting crime. We will always have a zero-tolerance policy.” Official figures have shown there were 43,000 prisoners in custody in Australia. Thirteen thousand were Indigenous Australians, who are vastly over-represented in the criminal justice system.