NCJ Number
81021
Date Published
1981
Length
46 pages
Annotation
A profile of Australia's Federal prisoners is presented, using inmate statistics from the Register of Prisoners from 1974 through 1980. The Register contain information on the offenders' demographic characteristics and sentences.
Abstract
The Register of Prisoners contains data on all Federal prisoners and persons imprisoned under territorial ordinances. The Register shows 1,892 persons imprisoned for Federal offenses between 1974 and 1980. The majority were convicted of forging and uttering (passing counterfeit money or forged checks), fraud, and the unlawful importation of narcotic drugs. Those convicted of fraud and the unlawful importation of narcotic drugs have shown the greatest increases over the years. The overwhelming majority of Federal prisoners are males; however, compared to the male-female ratio of State prisoners, female Federal prisoners are more prominent. The majority of the Federal prisoners were single young adults under 30-years-old. Educational information available on only about one-third of the cases showed that about half of these had completed only a few years of secondary school. Occupational data available for about half the Federal prisoners indicated that of the seven occupational categories presented, about 85 percent of the prisoners held occupations in the three lowest-paying categories: skilled workers, semiskilled workers, and unskilled workers. Native-born Australians predominate in all offenses but the importation of illegal narcotics, with only about half of those convicted of this offense being native-born. The largest single group convicted of drug trafficking came from Western Europe. Data limitations are identified, and improved data collection is urged. Tabular data and seven footnotes are provided.