NCJ Number
83542
Date Published
1981
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper presents 10 tables which show selected demographic characteristics of inmates of designated adult correctional institutions in Australia, as measured by the 1976 Census of Population and Housing.
Abstract
The 1976 census counted all persons in Australia on June 30, 1976, and included visitors in Australia. The census relied on self-reporting by respondents. The adult correctional institutions included prisons, corrective/detention facilities, training centers, prison farms, and police lockups. A total of 96.9 percent of the prisoners were male. Persons aged 18 to 29 constituted 29.8 percent of the total Australian population and 58.6 percent of the prison population. Persons classified as being of Aboriginal origin constituted 1.2 percent of the general population and 12.7 percent of the prison population. Over four-fifths of the prisoners were born in Australia. Prisoners who reported having left school tended to have left at younger ages than persons in the general population. The percentage of persons who reported never having attended school was slightly higher for prisoners than for the general population.