NSW prison population reaches five-year high due to rise in Aboriginal incarceration

Link to report summary:-

Release date: Wednesday 21 May 2025 


New data released today by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) reveals that the NSW adult prison population rose to 13,103 in March 2025. This marks the highest number of inmates since the pandemic began in March 2020. Following a sharp decline during the pandemic and a stretch of relative stability through to late 2023, the prison population has risen steadily. Since November 2023, the number of adults incarcerated increased by 1,055 or 8.8%, reaching its highest level in the last five years.

A concerning component of this trend is the rise in Aboriginal adults in custody. In March 2025, there were 4,244 Aboriginal adults in custody, representing 32% of the total adult custody population. Since November 2023 the number of Aboriginal prisoners increased 14.0% (up 520 people) compared to just a 4.3% rise in non-Aboriginal prisoners (up 359 people).

Commenting on the report BOCSAR’s Executive Director, Jackie Fitzgerald, said “unlike the overall prison population, which remains below pre-pandemic levels, the number of Aboriginal prisoners now well exceeds 2019 levels and continues to grow”.

The rise in the Aboriginal prison population is due to an increase in remandees, i.e. unconvinced prisoners awaiting court. In the five years to March 2025 the number of Aboriginal remandees grew by 63.0% to 1,936 in March 2025. Domestic violence (DV) offences account for a large proportion of the increase with the number of Aboriginal adults on remand for DV-related offences more than doubling (up 381 people from 359 in March 2020 to 740 in March 2024).

“These figures underscore the urgent need to consider policies, interventions and practice changes to reduce Aboriginal incarceration, as current trends contradict the Closing the Gap commitment to reduce Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system by at least 15% by 2031” Jackie says.

Supporting data:

Adult prison population

  • In March 2025, the adult custody population was 13,103 (12,203 men and 900 women).
  • The adult prison population is now the highest since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 (13,525). However, it is still 871 adults or 6.2% lower than in February 2020 (13,974), which remains the highest level on record.
  • Since November 2023, the prison population has increased by 1,055 people or 8.8% to reach 13,103 in March 2025 – the highest level in the last five years.

Aboriginal adult prison population

  • In March 2025, there were 4,244 Aboriginal adults in custody, which is 32.4% of the adult custody population.
  • In the past five years, the number of Aboriginal inmates increased by 18.9% (up 676 individuals from 3,568 in March 2020 to 4,244 in March 2025) while non-Aboriginal prisoners decreased by 12.5% (from 9,877 in March 2020 to 8,644 in March 2025).
  • The increase is entirely due to the growth in the remand population. Aboriginal remandees increased by 748 or 63.0% to 1,936 in the five years to March 2025. Conversely, Aboriginal prisoners in sentenced custody decreased by 72 or 3.0% to 2,308 in the five years to March 2025.
  • As at March 2025, 45.6% of Aboriginal adults in custody were on remand.
  • Between March 2020 and March 2025, the number of Aboriginal adults remanded for a domestic violence (DV) related offence more than doubled, from 359 in March 2020 to 740 in March 2025, an increase of 106.1%.

For comment please contact: 

Jackie Fitzgerald, Executive Director, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics & Research. 

Phone: +61 423 139 687 
Email: jackie.fitzgerald@dcj.nsw.gov.au


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