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 $7.3 billion per annum. The cost of keeping someone in prison each year is approximately $119,147. These costs just refer to the annual operating costs (and some of the capital costs). They do not take into account the additional cost of increased crime, as a consequence of incarceration, or other costs such as loss of housing and employment. Nor does it consider the economic cost of lost productivity of those people who are incarcerated.
In Australia, the cost of incarcerating one child in custody for one day is $3, 635. The cost of incarcerating one child in custody for a year is $1.3 million. Across Australia $822 million is spent each year on locking up children. This does not take into account the cost of new capital works. It also does not account for the cost of crime, disconnection from family and community, the absence of education, disability and mental health, and the life-long costs in terms of risks of entrenched justice system involvement.
Leading economists agree that Jailing is Failing
Economists for Justice Reform has been established in recognition that prison is expensive and ineffective at building community safety. Australians deserve a smarter approach and a better return on their tax dollars. Instead of spending $8.4 billion each year on prisons, we need to invest in evidence based alternatives including early prevention, early intervention and community-led solutions, including those led by First Nations groups.