
Australia
Capital city — Canberra
Country population
i30/09/2023Incarceration rate (per 100,000 inhabit…
i09/2022Type of government
Human Development Index
0.946(10/193)
iHomicide rate (per 100,000 inhabitants)
Name of authority in charge of the pris…
Total number of incarcerated people
i09/2022Prison density
i2017Total number of prison facilities
i2015An NPM has been established
Female prisoners
i09/2022Percentage of untried prisoners
i30/06/2022Death penalty is abolished
Prison Life Index
The evaluations measure the violations of prisoner rights by the State. They are based on extensive desk research and expert evaluations. Please refer to the methodology to find out how the Prison Life Index data is collected, sorted, and aggregated.
The data and information for Australia were collected between August 2024 and October 2024.
Eating, sleeping, showering
Food
People in prison have access to drinking water
People in prison have access to food
People in prison have access to tap water in their cell in most facilities.
They are usually served three meals a day. Dinner tends to be served earlier than the usual hours outside. Meal plans vary across States and Territories but are determined by Australian dietary guidelines. Experts reported that the food provided by the prison administration is insufficient in quantity and quality.
Accommodation
People in prison have sufficient living space
People in prison can sleep in good conditions
The premises are in good condition, clean and accessible
The Minimum Standard Guidelines for Australian Prisons recommend a minimum living space of 7,5 m2 per person in a single cell – excluding sanitary facilities. These provisions are not binding. There are no regulations establishing a minimum living space per person at the national level.
In practice, people in prison do not benefit from sufficient living space. In several States, the prison administration installed bunk beds to allocate two persons in cells designed for one. An expert reported that people still suffered from back pain years after their release due to the thinness of their mattresses.
The temperature in the premises is not regulated. They are not equipped with appropriate air conditioning and heating systems. In February 2024, temperatures rose to 43°C in the cells of Roebourne Regional Prison.
Personal hygiene
Adequate sanitary facilities allow people in prison to maintain their personal hygiene
People in prison have access to personal hygiene products
People in prison have access to clothing
Toilets are located within the cells. People in prison can experience difficulties in accessing the showers when they are located outside the cells. Infrastructures often fail to ensure the privacy of those using them.
Upon admission, incarcerated people receive some basic personal hygiene products such as soap, toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste. The products provided do not meet the various needs of individuals and are insufficient in quantity. In particular, women do not receive enough sanitary pads. People in prison are required to wear uniforms. They are provided by the prison administration. Their colour varies across States and Territories. Shoes can also be provided if needed, but an expert reported that they were of poor quality.
Medical care
Preventive framework
A disease transmission risk reduction programme is in place
People in prison have access to health awareness and information programmes
Screening programmes make it possible to diagnose people with contagious diseases
Equipment and infrastructures limiting the risk of disease and infection transmission are available
Vaccination programmes are organised
People in prison receive a medical examination upon admission
General health care
Access to general health care is quick and consistent
Health workers are qualified and independent
Adequate health infrastructures are available
Mental health and dental care
Access to mental health and dental care is quick and consistent
Mental health and dental care workers are qualified and independent
Adequate mental health and dental care infrastructures are available
Care for people with specific needs
People experiencing gender transition can access the necessary care
Elderly people can access the necessary care
Children can access the necessary care
Women can access the necessary care
People with communicable diseases can access the necessary care
People with addictions can access the necessary care
People with mental illnesses or psychiatric disorders can access the necessary care
People with physical disabilities can the access necessary care
Continuity of care
People in prison can continue the health care or treatments started before admission
An individual medical file is opened upon admission and is accessible to the patient
Being protected
Legal safeguards
People in prison can access legal assistance
People in prison are able to notify a third party in the event of detention, transfer, serious illness or injury
Each person in prison has a confidential file in the official, complete and up-to-date registers
People in prison have access to the internal regulations of the facility they are held in
Access to legal assistance can be restricted in several ways. Incarcerated people sometimes face delays or cancellation of meetings with their lawyers due to staff shortages. An expert noted that obtaining legal aid within prisons is particularly challenging.
People in prison are often unable to inform their loved ones in cases of illness or transfer.
Custody Notification Services (CNS) have been set in every jurisdiction since 2000. These services focus on legal support and communication with loved ones for people of indigenous descent. The nature of the services provided by this scheme differs from state to state.
Access to the internal regulations of the facilities varies across the country. Experts reported that people in prison are frequently not informed of these regulations upon arrival.
Physical and psychological integrity
There is a comprehensive preventive and protective framework
The disciplinary system set out by public regulation is proportionate and appropriate
The different categories of people in prison are placed in separate facilities or wards
The working and training conditions of prison staff contribute to the preventive framework
The preventive framework is effective
People in prison are not subjected to physical harm
Discipline is enforced in a proportionate way
People in prison are not subjected to abusive, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
Experts pointed out that the disciplinary systems can be opaque in certain States. They are established by state regulations and supplemented by policies specific to each prison. The Human Rights Law Center found, in 2016, for example, that “there is little regulation of solitary confinement. Each state jurisdiction confers wide discretion on the senior prison administrator’s decision-making powers”.
The separation between people awaiting trial from those serving sentences is not effective in all States and Territories. In Western Australia, this separation is not mandatory. In Queensland, people awaiting trial and those serving sentences must be kept separated ”where practicable”. The Queensland Correctional Services acknowledges that in practice, they are “unable to provide separate accommodation”.
Children may be incarcerated in adult facilities. The Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women noted in 2019 that girls and women awaiting trial were held together at Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre (Queensland). In 2022, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights expressed concern to the maximum security adult prison of Casuarina (Western Australia).
Experts reported that staff training is primarily focused on security rather than human rights. The recurring lack of personnel affects the operation of facilities and the safety of incarcerated people. This has been reported in the Australian Capital Territory, as well as in Victoria, Western Australia, and Tasmania.
Issues regarding the disproportionate enforcement of discipline have been raised in several States. In 2023, the New South Wales Ombudsman concluded that there was a “systemic failure across all correctional centres to follow the requirements of the legislation and the relevant policies in relation to inmate discipline”. The Australian Human Rights Commission highlighted in 2023 the existence of abusive, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, including excessive use of solitary confinement and strip searches. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as those experiencing mental health issues are disproportionately affected by these practices and by violence from staff members. Aboriginal and Torres Island persons represented 33% of people in prison in June 2023, while making up just 3.8% of the total Australian population.
Recent reports indicate that children are being subjected to solitary confinement a practice prohibited by international standards—in several States and Territories, including Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland. In 2023, the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services of Western Australia visited the Banksia Hill Detention Centre and Unit 18 of Casuarina Prison (Perth), where children and young people were held. Most of them were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island children. The report highlighted a deterioration in the conditions of detention, noting that the solitary confinement had a negative impact on the children’s mental health. It also found that rates of self-harm and attempted suicide among them were unprecedently high.
Complaint, appeal and inspection measures
Inspection mechanisms are in place
Internal or administrative inspections are carried out regularly by the central administration
External inspections are regularly carried out by independent bodies
The complaint and appeal mechanisms are effective
In the event of an offense committed against a person in prison, the response of the institution is effective
People in prison, their legal assistance or their loved ones can file a complaint
In most States, there was no evidence of internal or administrative inspections.
Australia has ratified the Optional Protocol on the United Nations Convention against Torture in December 2017. Under this protocol, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture visited Australia in October 2022. The visit was suspended due to a “lack of cooperation”, as the inspection team was prevented from visiting several facilities in New South Wales and Queensland. To this date, these two States, along with Victoria, have not yet established a National Preventive Mechanism. The mechanisms introduced in the other states operate with “limited resources”.
Internal complaint mechanisms are often not anonymous and require people in prison to submit their complaints to the surveillance staff.
Being active
Work
Every person in prison can access a job
People in prison who work receive equitable remuneration and are free to use at least part of their earnings
People in prison work in good conditions
People in prison have access to a diverse range of qualifying jobs that are not more dangerous or arduous than work outside the prison
In several States, like Victoria, South Australia or New South Wales, people serving a sentence can be required to work. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare noted in 2022 that 80% of people eligible for work in the country were employed between 2021 and 2022. People from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities were less likely to be employed. Eligibility criteria vary across States and Territories. In Queensland, only people with a low security classification are allowed to work.
There are not enough jobs opportunities for all people in prison wishing to work. Those awaiting trial and those held in maximum security classification have less access to work. Incarcerated people can be employed by the prison administration to do a variety of maintenance jobs, such as cooking, cleaning, gardening or doing the laundry. They can also perform industrial work, such as wood or metal work, textiles, stock picking or baking, carried out within the facility for external employers. There are “working prisons” or “work camps” such as the Palen Creek Correctional Centre (Queensland). This low security facility ”operates industries such as cattle and farm produce which supply the centre’s kitchens”.
As payment, workers receive an increase in the weekly allowance provided for all incarcerated people. This amount varies according to the state or territory and the type of work performed. It remains significantly lower than the national minimum wage, even when people are employed by private companies. In New South Wales, working wages range from 10 to 56 Australian dollars per week, and from 17 to 52 in Tasmania. As of July 2024, the national minimum wage in Australia was $915,90 per week.
Women in prison often have access to a more limited range of job opportunities. They tend to receive lower wages. In Queensland, they may be involved in cutting up used cloths or in sewing children’s uniforms.
People in prison are not protected by the Fair Work Act 2009 and are excluded from most of the national and States legislations on labour. They do not receive sick pay. The Australian Prisoners Union (APU) is not registered as a trade union with the Fair Work Commission. Founded in 1999, the APU aims to express the needs and wellbeing of those detained in prisons, locked hospitals, and youth justice facilities.
Training and education
People in prison have access to vocational training
People in prison have access to education
Vocational training and education are provided by qualified teachers, but the offer is limited.
In 2023, the Western Australian Inspector of Custodial Services observed that staff shortages significantly reduced the educational opportunities available to people in prison.
The lack of access to computers is an obstacle to accessing educational programmes, which are mostly delivered online.
Cultural, sporting and spiritual activities
People in prison spend at least one hour per day in the open air
People in prison have access to recreational and cultural activities
People in prison have access to a library
People in prison can participate in recreational and cultural activities
People in prison have access to physical and sporting activities
People in prison can practice their spirituality
In 2022 and 2023, people in prison spent on average 8.8 hours out of their cells each day, although this figure varied significantly over time. Experts reported that people can remain locked in their cells for entire weeks due to staff shortages. This issue has been documented in several States and Territories, such as Tasmania, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.
People in maximum and medium security prisons and those in solitary confinement have restricted access to the open air. The Human Rights Law Center observed in 2020 that people in solitary confinement spent “no more than one hour […] in a concrete pen or caged yard”.
Access to libraries varies across the country. People held in high and medium security prisons do not have direct access to the library and must request the books they want.
Cultural and recreational activities are rarely organised in prisons. Experts noted that they do not meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Island people.
Sports equipments are accessible to most people in prison. Those placed in solitary confinement can be denied access. A chaplain service provides religious and spiritual support to incarcerated persons. Experts reported that chaplains where mainly from the Christian community. Not all prisons have a prayer room. In such cases, people must pray in their cell.
Being connected
Connection to loved ones
People in prison can correspond in writing with their loved ones
People in prison can talk with their loved ones on the phone
People in prison can receive visitors
People in prison may be granted temporary leave to visit their loved ones
Measures are in place to guarantee the best interests of children of an incarcerated parent
People in prison must buy envelopes and stamps in the prison commissary to correspond with their loved ones. The price of writing materials varies across the States and Territories. In New South Wales, incarcerated people do not receive directly the letters sent to them, but a photocopy made by the prison administration. This practice can also be applied on a discretionary basis in Western Australia and Victoria.
People in prison can talk with their loved ones through public phones. Incarcerated individuals can call people from an approved list of numbers. In New South Wales and Southern Australia, this list is limited to 10 numbers. In Victoria, a maximum of 20 numbers can be authorised.
The management and pricing of these calls are entrusted to a private company, Comsec TR. Different rates are charged through states and territories. A minute’s phone call from prison costs 10 cents in Western Australia, 24 cents in New South Wale, 40 cents in the Northern Territory, 50 cents in Australian Capital territory and 57 cents in Victoria.
Experts reported that the costs of writing materials and phone calls are prohibitively high for people in prison, given their limited financial means and wages. This constitutes a significant barrier to maintaining connections with loved ones. The distance between prison facilities and original homes of incarcerated people is a further challenge. Due to territorial constraints and security classifications, people may be placed in facilities far from where they lived. Visiting hours and rights vary from one prison to another, and do not take into account the long journeys required for families to visit their loved ones.
Temporary leaves are rarely granted to people in prison. In South Australia, when it occurs for compassionate reasons, “the prisoner is likely to be cuffed and accompanied by officers for the duration of the escort”.
Children can stay with their mother in prison. The limiting age varies by state. In some States, specific facilities are designed to accommodate them such as the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania or New South Wales.
Connection to society
People in prison have access to information and various media
People in prison who have retained their right to vote may vote
People in prison have access to information. They can buy their own television and radio. Tevisions are installed in common areas. In some libraries, newspapers are available or can be purchased.
Voting is compulsory in federal and state elections and most local government elections for all Australian citizen over the age of 18. To vote, people must be previously enrolled. Incarcerated persons serving a sentence of less than three years are also required to vote. Experts indicated that, in practice, many are unable to exercise this right due to a lack of polling booths in facilities, issues with enrollment or difficulties in receiving postal ballots.