Domestic violence, sex assaults fuelling rise in prison population on remand in NSW: BOCSAR

A record number of NSW citizens are sitting in jail waiting on remand for their day in court — driven by more proactive policing of domestic violence, sex assault, intimidation and stalking crimes — new figures reveal.

A record number of NSW citizens are sitting in jail waiting on remand for their day in court — driven by more proactive policing of domestic violence, sex assault, intimidation and stalking crimes — new figures reveal.

The NSW Custody Statistics quarterly update released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics (BOCSAR) recorded 5055 NSW citizens on remand — a nine per cent jump over the past four years.

The blowout means 42 per cent of all adults in the state’s prisons are yet to be convicted of any crime — a figure which has jumped 34 per cent since December 2019.

More adults are coming into the justice system - with 154,357 first court appearances in 12 months to June last year - up from 144,648 the year before.

“In terms of why the remand population is increasing, it is largely due to an increase in criminal charges laid by police,” BOCSAR executive director Jacki Fitzgerald said.  

Police have been more proactive in arresting domestic violence offenders. Picture: istock

“The offences contributing most to the increase in the adult remand population are domestic violence assault, non-domestic violence assault, sexual assault, intimidation and stalking and weapons offences.”

“This is largely due to increased proactive policing around these offences and a corresponding increase in charges.

BOCSAR executive director Jacki Fitzgerald says “more people than ever are in prison waiting for their day in court”.

“More people than ever are in prison waiting for their day in court and accordingly, remandees now make up a greater proportion of the prison population than ever before.”

She said the data showed the main offences driving the increase in the adult remand population were:

■ domestic violence assault - up 33 per cent,

■ sexual offences - up 25 per cent,

■ non-domestic assault - up 11 per cent,

■ intimidation/stalking - up 30 per cent and,

■ weapons offences, up 47 per cent.

The snapshot of the prison population also revealed that on average, NSW citizens spend 90 days on remand waiting to be found guilty or innocent.

And the actual prison population is at its lowest point since 2015, with 12,091 adults in custody, down 11 per cent.

The proportion of people who were given bail remained steady.

As for why the prison population has fallen - it could be due to a drop in the proportion of proven offenders receiving a prison sentence.

“In the year to June 2019, 10.1 per cent of the 119,606 adults found guilty in court received a prison sentence compared to 9.2 per cent of the 123,531 people found guilty in the year to June 2023,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

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