Oceania · Australia and New Zealand
Eight state/territory systems. Indigenous Australians over-represented at ~32% of the prison population (~3% of national population).
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
Prison population
46,998
Year: 2025
Rate per 100,000
170
Per 100,000 residents
Occupancy
112.2%
Above design capacity
Pre-trial / remand
42.2%
Share not yet sentenced
Female prisoners
8.2%
Foreign nationals
13.9%
Figures from official sources · verified 20 May 2026 · methodology
Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk
Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.
The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.
Source: World Prison Brief / unodc / abs-au
Laws, programmes, and pilots changing how Australia incarcerates — plus relevant research.
alternatives · active
Aboriginal-led project in the town of Bourke that redirects criminal-justice spending into community-driven prevention. Began 2013 with deep community partnership and data sharing with police, courts, and child-protection services.
262 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.
Australia · Wooroloo
Type
Medium security
Capacity
1,433
Held
—
Australia · Grafton
Type
Juvenile
Capacity
45
Held
—
Australia · Northfield
Type
Minimum security
Capacity
104
Held
—
Australia · Adelaide
Type
Maximum security
Capacity
274
Held
—
Australia · Northfield, Adelaide
Type
Closed female
Capacity
104
Held
—
Australia · Northfield
Type
Minimum to maximum security
Capacity
176
Held
—
Australia · Cavan
Type
Juvenile
Capacity
60
Held
—
Australia · Cavan
Type
Juvenile
Capacity
36
Held
—
Australia · Albany
Type
Minimum to maximum security
Capacity
510
Held
—
Australia · Hume
Type
Minimum to maximum security
Capacity
539
Held
—
Australia · Alice Springs
Type
Multi-level
Capacity
—
Held
—
Australia · Hugh
Type
Medium to maximum security
Capacity
400
Held
—
Australia
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Australia · Hugh
Type
Juvenile
Capacity
10
Held
—
Australia
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Australia · Emu Plains
Type
Minimum security
Capacity
56
Held
—
Australia · Wacol
Type
Maximum security
Capacity
890
Held
—
Australia
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Australia · Deloraine
Type
Unknown
Capacity
51
Held
—
Australia
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Australia
Type
—
Capacity
—
Held
—
Australia · Mookima Wybra
Type
Community corrections
Capacity
—
Held
—
Australia · Middle Swan, Perth
Type
Closed female
Capacity
68
Held
—
Australia · West Swan
Type
Minimum to maximum security
Capacity
394
Held
—
Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.
Direct citations for the figures on this page.
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). Australia — prison statistics. Retrieved July 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/countries/australia
"Australia — prison statistics." World Prisons. Accessed July 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/countries/australia.
@misc{worldprisons-australia,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Australia — prison statistics},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/countries/australia},
urldate = {2026-07-20}
}