2406. Hon Alison Xamon to the minister representing the Minister for Corrective Services:
For each financial year from 2015 to 2018 inclusive, I ask:
(a) how many people in Western Australia were imprisoned for fine default alone;
(b) how many of the individuals from (a) were women;
(c) how many of the individuals from (a) were classified as unemployed at the time of incarceration;
(d) how many of the individuals from (a) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander;
(e) how many of the individuals from (d):
(i) were women; and
(ii) were classified as unemployed at the time of incarceration;
(f) how many of the individuals from (a) were being treated for a diagnosed mental illness at the time of their incarceration;
(g) how many of the individuals from (f):
(i) identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander;
(ii) were women; and
(iii) were classified as unemployed at the time of incarceration;
(h) on average, how many days did the individuals from (a) spend in prison for non-payment of fines;
(i) what was the longest period an individual from (a) was imprisoned for non-payment of fines; and
(j) what was the shortest period an individual from (a) was imprisoned for non-payment of fines?
Hon Stephen Dawson replied:
(a)–(e):
|
Prisoner Group |
2015–16 |
2016–17 |
2017–18 |
2018–19 |
|
|
(a) |
All |
623 | 1036 | 814 | 433 |
|
(b) |
Women |
160 | 264 | 216 | 112 |
|
(c) |
Unemployed 1 at Arrest |
305 | 512 | 383 | 210 |
|
(d) |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) |
234 | 400 | 330 | 156 |
|
(e) (i) (ii) |
ATSI – Women ATSI – Unemployed1 at Arrest |
91 120 |
158 208 |
111 171 |
46 90 |
1 Unemployed on Arrest based on the ABS counting rules for the annual Prisoners in Australia collection.
(f)–(g) This level of information is not recorded in the Department’s Data-Warehouse and would have to be collated manually, a resource intensive and time consuming task.
(h)–(j) as follows:
|
Statistic |
2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | |
|
(h) |
Average Days |
6 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
|
(i) |
Maximum Days |
105 | 749 | 60 | 92 |
|
(j) |
Minimum Days |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |