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Previous studies have found that the health of people in the correctional system is generally poorer than in the general population.

Prison entrants

This summary focuses on information collected from prison entrants. A prison entrant is someone who entered prison during the 2-week period in which the National Prisoner Health Census was conducted. From this information, a picture of the health of Australia's prison population can be determined.

For more information see The health of Australia's prisoners (2011).

Over 50,000 prisoners pass through the Australian correction system each year, and this number is growing.

9 in 10 prisoners are male

9 in 10

prison entrants are male.

2 in 5 prisoners are Indigenous

2 in 5

prison entrants are Indigenous.

3 in 4 prisoners did not study past Year 10

3 in 4

prison entrants have not studied past Year 10.

1 in 4 prisonors have a chronic health condition

1 in 4

prison entrants have a chronic health condition.

Asthma was the most common condition.

over 4 in 5 prisoners smoke

4 in 5

prison entrants are smokers.

This is over 4 times the rate of the general population.

2 in three prisoners used illicit drugs prior to prison

2 in 3

prison entrants used illicit drugs in the 12 months prior to prison.

1 in 2 prisoners drank at risky levels

1 in 2

prison entrants drank alcohol at risky levels before prison.

This was nearly 3 in 4 for Indigenous prisoners.

3 in 10 prisoners have a mental health disorder

3 in 10

prison entrants reported having a mental health disorder. For female prison entrants, this rate was 4 in 10.

Around half were taking medication for their disorder.

Nearly 1 in 3 prisoners experienced distress

1 in 3

prison entrants experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress in the four weeks prior to prison entry.