Profile of women in prison in NSW, November 2023

While we saw a drop in prisoners during COVID due to political decisions that prioritised public health, we saw a snap back post COVID, with a significant and most unfortunate increase in Indigenous girls and women facing court.

We did see a decrease in the number of girls in custody, however, the majority of girls who go in and out of custody are Indigenous and have the highest complex support needs.

When looking at the data, it’s important to distinguish between Census versus Flow numbers. Census equals the number in prison on a particular day (e.g. 800 women) but around double that number flows through prisons over a year (e.g. 1600). The data tells us that women are more likely to be on remand and serve shorter sentences than men.