The health of Australia's prisoners 2015

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Release Date: 27 Nov 2015

Topic: People in prison

Media release

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2015) The health of Australia's prisoners 2015, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2024.

APA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2015). The health of Australia's prisoners 2015. Canberra: AIHW.

MLA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The health of Australia's prisoners 2015. AIHW, 2015.

Vancouver

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The health of Australia's prisoners 2015. Canberra: AIHW; 2015.

Harvard

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015, The health of Australia's prisoners 2015, AIHW, Canberra.

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The health of Australia’s prisoners 2015 is the 4th report produced by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on the health and wellbeing of prisoners. The report explores the conditions and diseases experienced by prisoners; compares, where possible, the health of prisoners to the general Australian community and provides valuable insight into the use of prison health services. New to the 2015 report are data on the disabilities or long-term health conditions of prisoners entering the prison system (prison entrants), self-assessed mental and physical health status of prisoners and data on smoke-free prisons.

ISBN: 978-1-74249-866-9
Cat. no: PHE 207
Pages: 244

Findings from this report:

1 in 4 prisoners received medications for mental health related issues while in prison
2 in 3 prison entrants had not studied past year 10
1 in 2 prison entrants were unemployed in the 30 days before entering prison
1 in 4 prison entrants were homeless in the 4 weeks before entering prison

Mental health of prison entrants

Almost half of prison entrants (49%) reported having been told by a health professional that they have a mental health disorder, and more than 1 in 4 (27%) reported currently being on medication for a mental health disorder.

Reporting a history of mental health problems was more common among female (62%) than male entrants (47%). Consistent with this, a higher proportion of females than males were currently on medication for a mental health disorder (37% and 25%, respectively).

Eighteen percent of the youngest prison entrants (aged under 25) reported currently taking mental health related medication compared with at least 28% of older entrants (those aged 25 or over).

Non-Indigenous prison entrants were more likely than Indigenous prison entrants to have ever been told that they have a mental health disorder (51% and 44%, respectively), but the proportions taking mental health related medication was the same.

Psychological distress

Although almost half (49%) of all prison entrants experienced low levels of psychological distress during the four weeks immediately preceding entry to prison, almost 1 in 3 (31%) had high or very high levels of distress:

The issues causing 'a lot' of distress for entrants were family or relationships in the community (34%), their current imprisonment (19%), and alcohol, tobacco and other drug issues (18%).
Over 2 in 5 (45%) female entrants compared with 29% of male entrants experienced high or very high levels of distress.
Over half (51%) of male entrants experienced low levels of distress in the 4 weeks preceding prison entry, compared with 33% of female entrants.

Levels of psychological distress were generally lower among those who were about to leave prison (dischargees), with 19% experiencing high or very high levels:

The issues causing 'a lot' of distress for dischargees were their upcoming release from prison (13%) and family and relationships in the community (13%).
Female dischargees were almost three times more likely than male dischargees to report very high levels of distress (19% compared with 6%).
reported psychological distress was lower for Indigenous than non-Indigenous prison entrants and dischargees (Figure 1). In the 4 weeks prior to incarceration, 1 in 5 (20%) Indigenous entrants experienced high or very high levels of distress, compared with 34% of non-Indigenous entrants.

Younger prison entrants experienced less distress than older entrants. About 1-in-5 (20%) of the youngest entrants (aged under 25) reported high or very high levels of distress, compared with 37% of those aged at least 35 years.

Figure 1: Prison entrants and dischargees, level of psychological distress, by Indigenous status, 2015

Split horizontal bar chart showing (Non-Indigenous, Indigenous); on the left - entrants (per cent) (0 to 80) on the x axis; on the right - discharges (per cent) 0 to 80) on the x axis; Very high, high, moderate, low on the y axis.

Note:

Excludes New South Wales as data were not provided for this indicator.
Levels of distress as indicated by scores on the K10: low (10–15), moderate (16–21), high (22–29) and very high (30–50).

Source: Entrant form and dischargee form, NPHDC 2015.

Changes to mental health while in prison

Almost 1 in 5 (19%) prison dischargees, or 64% of those ever diagnosed with mental health condition, were offered treatment for a mental health condition while in prison.
More than 2 in 5 (41%) dischargees said their mental health had improved since being in prison, with 19% reporting that it had become a lot better, and a further 22% said it got a little better. Less than 1 in 10 (9%) dischargees reported that their mental health got a little or a lot worse.
Male dischargees were less positive than women, with 10% of men reporting that their mental health had become a little or a lot worse since being in prison, compared with 4% of women.
Indigenous dischargees were more positive than non-Indigenous dischargees—just over half (51%) of Indigenous dischargees reported that their mental health as either a lot better (22%) or a little better (29%) compared with 38% of non-Indigenous dischargees (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Prison dischargees' changes in mental health and wellbeing, by Indigenous status, 2015

Vertical bar chart showing for (Indigenous, non-Indigenous); per cent (0 to 50) on the y axis; changes in mental health and wellbeing (a lot better, a little better, stayed the same, a little/lot worse) on the x axis.

Note: Excludes New South Wales as data were not provided for discharges.

Source: Dischargee form, NPHDC 2015.

Self assessed mental health

Over three quarters (78%) of dischargees, and two-thirds (67%) of entrants rated their mental health as being generally good or better:

Men were more likely than women to assess their own mental health as being very good or excellent. Just over one-third (35%) of male entrants compared with 17% of female entrants gave this rating, as did 44% of male and 25% of female dischargees.
Similarly, younger entrants and dischargees were more positive in their assessments of their own mental health than older prisoners. One-third (32–36%) of dischargees aged aged at least 35 gave a rating of very good or excellent, compared with 59% of the youngest dischargees aged 18–24 years.

Further information

See Chapter 4 of The health of Australia's prisoners 2015.