The health of Australia's prisoners 2012

Publication

Release Date: 24 Jul 2013

Topic: People in prison

Media release

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2013) The health of Australia's prisoners 2012, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2024.

APA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2013). The health of Australia's prisoners 2012. Canberra: AIHW.

MLA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The health of Australia's prisoners 2012. AIHW, 2013.

Vancouver

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The health of Australia's prisoners 2012. Canberra: AIHW; 2013.

Harvard

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2013, The health of Australia's prisoners 2012, AIHW, Canberra.

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Prisoners have significant health issues, with high rates of mental health problems, communicable diseases, alcohol misuse, smoking and illicit drug use. 38% of prison entrants have ever been told they have a mental illness, 32% have a chronic condition. 84% are current smokers, but almost half of them would like to quit. 37% of prisoners about to be released said their health was a lot better than when they entered prison.

ISBN: 978-1-74249-464-7
Cat. no: PHE 170
Pages: 196

Findings from this report:

1 in 5 prison entrants were taking mental health related medication
7 in 10 prison entrants had engaged in illicit drug use in the 12 months prior to entering prison
1 in 2 prison entrants were unemployed in the 30 days before entering prison
1 in 3 prison entrants were homeless in the 4 weeks before entering prison

Notes

Amendments

16 Dec 2013 - Updates to both publication (including summary) and report profile.

Data correction to p.44 – section titled 'Prisoners in custody'. Multiple corrections made to Tables 4.5 and 4.6. Rows labelled 'Total taking any mental health medication' were previously (incorrectly) a count of mental health medications rather than a count of individuals talking mental health medication. This has been corrected.
Minor data correction to p.87 – Table 11.2. Corrected Total (number and per cent) for 'Ex or non-smoker'.

Data quality statement

National Prisoner Health Data Collection