INMATE INCREASE

PRISONER NUMBERS UP 70 PER CENT

VICTORIA’S prison population has surged more than 70 per cent over the past 10 years — with the number of young prisoners also increasing at a high rate.

Corrections Victoria data shows the rate of male prisoners under 20 rose from 60.3 per 100,000 in 2015 to 96.3 in 2017, while the total rate of prisoners under 20 increased from 32.9 per 100,000 to 50.7.

While Corrections Victoria did not detail if a change in prisoner demographics influenced prison programs, spokeswoman Courtney Crane said all jails provided a range of rehabilitation and transition programs to help offenders break the cycle of crime.

“Each prisoner is provided with programs that address their individual needs, which may include programs to address general offending behaviour, violent and sex offending, alcohol and drug related offending, family violence, and to assist with transitioning back into the community,” Ms Crane said.

“All prisoners are assessed by Corrections Victoria when they first enter the system, and are classified with a security rating according to their offence profile, risk and individual requirements.”

She said the State Government’s new transition program Re-Start provided post-release support for short sentence and remand prisoners, while an investment in women’s prisons would see a 70-bed health and wellbeing precinct opened by the end of the year.

Legal Aid Victoria criminal law services executive director Dan Nicholson said more young people were being remanded and consequently spent time in prison for a range of complex reasons.

“Young people appearing before court increasingly have complex circumstances which may be contributing to their behaviour,” Mr Nicholson said.

He said new, tougher bail laws had led to more vulnerable young people ending up on remand when they were charged with multiple, but not necessarily serious or violent, offences.

“Placing a young person in custody can have long term impacts on their ability to rehabilitate” he said.

Mr Nicholson said young people who spent time in custody were more likely to reoffend and put further stress on an overstretched system and on the community.

The data — which highlights Victoria’s changing prison population — reveals female prisoner numbers have also risen sharply.

The number of female inmates almost doubled over 10 years, making up 7 per cent of the prison population compared with just 6 per cent in 2007.

While the rate of young prisoners has risen sharply, Dark brown cuttlefish Inclined to be a slow starting six-footer 3 Saying time and time again 4 Thaws out when smelt

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cup 6 Soundly regrets a stratagem 9 A group of singers from Victoria’s prison population is largely older than 10 years ago with 36 per cent of the prisoner population aged 40 and over, up from 31 per cent in 2007.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island prisoners now make up 9 per cent of the prison population with inmate numbers doubling over the last decade.