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# Why are 43% of Australian prisoners unsentenced?
- URL: https://www.benchmarkanalytics.com.au/unsentenced-prisoners-australia-remand-explainer/
- Published: 2026-09-16T12:20:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T12:20:52.000Z
- Description: More than two in five Australian prisoners are now unsentenced, compared with roughly one in nine in the early 1990s. This explainer looks at the rise of remand, why it matters, and the striking differences between states.
- Author: Nick Hossack
- Tags: Bail, Criminal Population, Unsentenced prisoners

In the June quarter 2026, there were **21,659 unsentenced prisoners**. They represented about **43 per cent of prisoners** counted on the first day of the month, and their number was **9 per cent higher than a year earlier**. By comparison, the number of sentenced prisoners increased by 5 per cent.

“Unsentenced” broadly means a person is being held in custody while awaiting the outcome of their case. In practice, this is the **remand population**.

Bail law differs between states and territories, but the basic policy problem is similar. Courts have to balance an accused person's liberty before their case has been determined against risks such as failing to appear in court, committing a serious offence, endangering others or interfering with witnesses or evidence. Bail conditions can sometimes be used to manage those risks.

The striking point is how much the system has changed.

ABS historical data show that in **1992 only 12 per cent of prisoners were on remand**. By 2002 it was 20 per cent.

The longer annual legal-status series tells the same story. In 1994, Australia had **1,948 unsentenced prisoners**, representing about **11 per cent** of prisoners. By 2015 there were 9,898, or around 27 per cent. In 2025 there were **19,850 — 42 per cent of all prisoners**.

Between 1994 and 2025, therefore, the unsentenced population increased **more than tenfold**. The total prison population rose from 16,946 to 46,998 — less than threefold — while the sentenced population increased from 14,999 to 27,051.

The composition of Australian imprisonment has fundamentally shifted towards remand.

The latest **flow** data make the point even more strongly. During the June quarter there were 21,148 prisoner receptions into custody. Of these, **17,028 — 80.5 per cent — were recorded as unsentenced at reception**, according to the accompanying ABS data cube.

That does **not** mean four in five people entering prison will never be sentenced. The ABS records legal status at the point of reception; a person's status can subsequently change while they remain in custody. Receptions also count episodes rather than unique people.

The interstate differences are also substantial. In June 2026, unsentenced prisoners accounted for about **48 per cent of custody in South Australia and 47 per cent in NSW**, compared with about 40 per cent in Victoria and Western Australia. The proportion of receptions recorded as unsentenced ranged from about **55 per cent in Queensland to 95 per cent in South Australia**.

Those differences should not be treated as a simple league table of tougher or more lenient bail systems. Legislation, court processes and administrative practices differ between jurisdictions.

So why is remand growing?

The corrective-services statistics cannot answer that question by themselves. Australian Institute of Criminology research identifies four broad drivers: **the number and type of defendants reaching the courts; bail laws and practices; changes in defendant characteristics; and court delays**, because longer case-processing times increase the period people remain on remand.

That distinction matters. A rising remand population is not automatically evidence that crime has risen by the same amount. It can also reflect how police, bail systems and courts process accused people.

With governments spending **$5.43 billion operating prisons in 2024–25**, identifying which part of that pipeline is driving the increase matters for both justice policy and prison capacity.

Corrective Services • June quarter 2026 

Australia's remand population 

Unsentenced prisoners now account for a large share of both people held in custody and new receptions into prison. 

43%

of prisoners are unsentenced

81%

of prison receptions were unsentenced

| Jurisdiction       | Unsentencedprisoners | Share ofcustody | Annualchange | Share ofreceptions |
| ------------------ | -------------------- | --------------- | ------------ | ------------------ |
| NSW                | 6,657                | **46.8%**       | +15.1%       | 88.6%              |
| Victoria           | 2,988                | 40.3%           | **+16.0%**   | 86.6%              |
| Queensland         | 5,076                | 42.3%           | +10.5%       | **54.6%**          |
| South Australia    | 1,703                | **47.5%**       | +8.5%        | **95.1%**          |
| Western Australia  | 3,468                | 40.2%           | +1.7%        | 91.7%              |
| Tasmania           | 354                  | 41.0%           | +4.1%        | 87.0%              |
| Northern Territory | 1,200                | 42.4%           | −13.7%       | 78.6%              |
| ACT                | 212                  | 44.6%           | +6.5%        | 91.9%              |
| Australia          | 21,659               | 43.3%           | +9.0%        | 80.5%              |

**How to read this:** “Share of custody” is the proportion of prisoners who were unsentenced in the June quarter 2026\. “Annual change” compares unsentenced prisoner numbers with June quarter 2025\. “Share of receptions” is the proportion of receptions into full-time custody recorded as unsentenced during the June quarter 2026\. Receptions are episodes, not unique people, and legal status can change while a person remains in custody.  
  
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, *Corrective Services, Australia*, June quarter 2026, Tables 5 and 20\. Calculations: Benchmark Analytics.