Skip navigation
  1. Home
  2. Jailing Is Failing

Jailing Is Failing

Our criminal justice system is not working. Past Governments of both political persuasions have been responsible for more than doubling the Australian prison population over recent decades. The Australian imprisonment rate (per 100,000 of adult population) has surged over the last  three decades, from 119.2 in 1993 to 202.3 in 2023. It is now time to critically examine the evidence which shows that jailing is failing us all.

Successful bipartisan reform initiatives internationally show us there is another way. It’s time for governments to listen and accept the evidence for reform.

It’s time to admit it – jailing is failing.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

Jailing is failing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is more than 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Although governments accepted almost all of the Commission’s...
Read more

Jailing is Failing Children

Jailing is failing children. Most children who enter the youth justice system (including children as young as 10) come from backgrounds where they have already experienced disadvantage and trauma, with a significant...
Read more

Women

Jailing is failing women. In Australia the vast majority of incarcerated women have themselves survived crime in the form gendered violence. This includes many women who have survived family and domestic violence. Women’s incarceration...
Read more

Jailing is Failing people with mental health conditions and cognitive disability

Jailing is also failing those with mental health conditions and cognitive disability.  People with disability and mental health conditions including children, are overrepresented across the criminal justice systems in Australia, and are...
Read more

Taxpayers

Jailing is failing Australian taxpayers. In addition to being harmful and ineffective, imprisonment is also extremely expensive. The cost of adult incarceration in Australia is more than $6.3 billion per annum. The cost...
Read more

Jailing is Failing people who experience disadvantage

Jailing is failing the most disadvantaged. The majority of people incarcerated in Australia come from circumstances where they have experienced multiple and intersecting disadvantages. There are eight social determinants that increase the likelihood...
Read more

Victims of crime

Jailing is failing victims of crime. Victims of crime frequently call for better support alongside better access to justice. Victims of crime also often advocate for processes and responses that genuinely address...
Read more

As a deterrent

Jailing is failing as a deterrent. 61% of all people in prison in Australia have been in prison before. There has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of people in prison with...
Read more

Rehabilitation

Jailing is failing in terms of rehabilitation. In order to break the cycle of incarceration, people need access to support services that address the drivers of contact with the criminal justice system. People need...
Read more

Sign Up To Find Out More