Greg Jericho
Chief Economist

It paints a growing horror story of systemic racism in our judicial and policing systems.

In the September quarter 403.7 men were imprisoned per 100,000 men in Australia, that was down on 405.9 in the June quarter but well above the 384 average across 2023.

But the real story is when we break down imprison rates by Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons. Since 2023 the rates of non-indigenous men imprisoned has remained steady while the rates for Indigenous men have risen substantially

The story for women is much the same. While women are much less likely than men to be in prison, the rate for Indigenous women compared to non-Indigenous is just as bad and again has seen more Indigenous women imprisoned over the past 3 years compared to non-Indigenous

Indigenous men are 17 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous men, while Indigenous women are a shocking 27 times more likely than their non-Indigenous counterparts.

Such a growing disparity is a true disgrace of Australian society. Indigenous people are much more likely to be given a custodial sentence than non-Indigenous.

But of course the problem does not only being with people’s interactions with the law – Indigenous people are much more likely to be unemployed, to live in poverty and to live further away from vital services and support.

These figures are just the end result of a society that remains riven with racism.