Between 1988 and 1998, the number of people in Australian prisons increased from 12,321 to 19,906, an increase of 62 per cent. This paper takes Prison Census figures and analyses the offences for which people were gaoled in 1988 and 1998. It examines trends in the offence composition of Australian prison populations by age, gender, and jurisdiction. In 1988, 7.5 per cent of the total prison population was imprisoned for assault and, in 1998, this figure had increased to 12.6 per cent. It is an increase of 5.1 percentage poin
For females, there was an increase in the proportion gaoled for assault from 3.4 per cent in 1988 to 10.4 per cent in 1998, while at the same time the proportion gaoled for drug offences fell from 16.1 per cent to 11.8 per cent.
Prisoners in the 20-34 age groups increased their contribution to the total of inmates held in prison for assault. Older prisoners were held for sex offences more than for any other offence. Of prisoners aged 50-64, 38.9 percent were gaoled for sex offences in 1998, compared to 18.5 per cent in 1988, and for those aged 65 and over, 56.9 per cent were gaoled for sex offences compared to 23.1 per cent in 1988. By breaking down the offence composition in this way we can learn about changes over time and help structure responses for prison services.