Prisons a revolving door for criminals, says Australian Institute of Criminology report

AUSTRALIA'S prisons are a revolving door, with close to half of all criminals released returning to prison or on home detention orders within two years.

AUSTRALIA'S prisons are a revolving door, with close to half of all criminals released returning to prison or being put on home detention orders within two years.

The Sunday Mail can reveal the Australian Institute of Criminology's annual report confirms recidivism by former prison inmates remains a major problem.

Just two years after jail inmates were released, 38 per cent had returned to prison under sentence and 44 per cent were in jail or on community correction orders.

According to a national census of the prison population, there were nearly 30,000 people in prison in 2010, with the rate of imprisonment increasing by 97 per cent in the past 30 years.

One in four prisoners is Aboriginal, with indigenous Australians 18 times more likely to be imprisoned than white Australians.

On the plus side, the number of victims of robbery in 2010 was the lowest since 1996, with 14,582 victims. That's a substantial decrease since 2001 when 26,591 victims of robbery were recorded in official statistics.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said the good news from the national snapshot was that home break-ins and violent crimes were decreasing.

A snapshot of crime in Australia has also confirmed women are most likely to be attacked by a partner or family member while men are most likely to be assaulted by a friend at work or at a pub or club.

Cocaine arrests are also booming with 15 per cent of male detainees at Sydney's Kings Cross police station testing positive for the drug.

In Melbourne's Footscray, a startling 43 per cent of detainees in police cells tested positive for heroin. But the most common drug Australians are arrested for carrying is marijuana.

Car theft had also reduced by 61 per cent over the last decade.

The report also reveals that the most common weapon used in homicide is a knife, which accounted for nearly 40 per cent of all murders.

The number of victims of robbery in 2010 was also lowest on record since 1996, with 14,582 victims.

That's a substantial decrease since 2001 when 26,591 victims of robbery were recorded in official statistics.

Marijuana was involved in the highest number of drug-related arrests with 57,170 arrests.