Media Release
Embargoed until 00:01 a.m. (AEDT) Tuesday 7 October 2025
A new report by the Sentencing Advisory Council has found that Victoria’s prison population grew 62% in the 20 years to 30 June 2024, driven mostly by fluctuations in the number of people held on remand – that is, people charged with offending but not released on bail.
The report, Victoria’s Prison Population 2004 to 2024, examines long-term trends in Victoria’s prison population, noting that Victoria’s total population increased from 5.2 million people to 6.9 million in that time (a 39% increase). The report finds three distinct time periods for the prison population over the 20 years:
- 2004 to 2011 was a period of relative stability, ranging from about 3,500 to 4,500 people in custody
- 2012 to 2019 was a period of significant growth, increasing to a peak of just over 8,100 prisoners and
- 2020 to 2024 was a period of unique decline, compared to jurisdictions in Australia and similar jurisdictions globally, reducing to just under 6,000 people in prison in Victoria.
The report finds that these changes in Victoria’s prison population were more strongly associated with the number of people held on remand, rather than the number of people committing crimes each year. For instance, in contrast to the relatively volatile number of people in prison since 2011, the number of people committing offences each year was relatively stable (between about 70,000 and 80,000 people most years).
Instead, the three distinct time periods above all correlated with changes in the number of people held on remand. From 2004 to 2011, the number of people held on remand increased from 649 to 876, accounting for under 20% of the total prison population each year. That more than tripled to almost 3,000 people held on remand in 2019, accounting for 37% of the prison population, reaching a peak of 44% in 2021. In the four years that followed, the number of people held on remand dropped to 1,994 by June 2024 (34% of the prison population). By comparison, the number of people serving a prison sentence was much more stable over the two decades, increasing from 3,043 people in 2005, to 3,921 in 2024 (a 29% increase).
Other key findings for the 20-year period include:
- More short and time served prison sentences: there was a 39% increase in the number of people sentenced to prison each year (from 5,317 prison sentences to 7,372). Most prison sentences were short prison sentences of less than 6 months (61%). Short prison sentences and time served prison sentences became more prevalent over the 20-year period, with time served prison sentences peaking at 35% of all prison sentences in 2019-20.
- More imprisonment sentences for violent crime: property offences were the most common offences to receive a prison sentence until 2012–13. Since then, however, the most common offences to receive a prison sentence were offences against the person such as cause injury and sexual assault.
- More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults continued to be overrepresented in the prison population, with their per capita imprisonment rate increasing by 68% from 987 per 100,000 Aboriginal Victorians in 2005 to 1,655 in 2024.
- Fewer women in prison: while most adults in prison in Victoria are male (95% in 2024), the per capita imprisonment rate for women nonetheless declined over the 20-year period by 23%. By June 2024, there were less than 1 in 10,000 women in prison in Victoria, for the first time in two decades. The per capita imprisonment rate for men, by comparison, was around 1 in 480 (over 20 times higher).
Quotes Attributable to Sentencing Advisory Council Director, Stan Winford
‘This is the Council’s fourth report examining changes in Victoria’s prison population over time, but it is the first of those reports to examine such a lengthy time period, offering insights into what is driving those changes. There are many more people in prison, particularly people held on remand prior to trial or sentencing. As a result, people are receiving shorter prison sentences, many of which are time served prison sentences. But at the same time, people committing serious offences such as murder, rape and other violent crimes are now receiving much longer prison sentences than they did previously.’
‘The recent changes in Victoria’s prison population were also quite unique, both in Australia and around the world. While most countries experienced a reduction in their prison populations at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, they resumed their upward trend shortly after, whereas Victoria uniquely continued that decline in the years that followed. That trend has, however, changed significantly since 30 June 2024, with considerably more people now in custody in Victoria.’
The report will be available to download from our website at www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au at 8 a.m. on Tuesday 7 October 2025.
About the Sentencing Advisory Council: the Council is an independent statutory body established in 2004. It has a number of legislative functions, including conducting research on sentencing, consulting on sentencing matters, publishing sentencing statistics, and advising the Attorney-General on sentencing matters.
