Record numbers of youths and Indigenous young people are currently incarcerated in NSW jails with the population of inmates on remand due to the current crime wave surging by more than 20 per cent.

When the CV Independent toured Australia’s largest prison, Clarence Correctional Centre in January 2025 with General Manager Scott Jacques, he said the percentage of Indigenous inmates currently incarcerated was between 45 and 50 per cent, while 55 per cent of the jail’s inmates were on remand.

Mr Jacques said Clarence Correctional Centre averaged about 400 new inmates per month, with a current population of 1250 maximum security inmates, plus 50 women and 240 men serving time in protective custody.

South Grafton’s Acmena Youth Justice Centre has a capacity for 45 young people.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research BOCSAR show over the 12 months to December 2024, the number of young people in custody increased by 32 per cent, while the number of young Indigenous people had increased by 21.7 per cent.

Of the young people who were incarcerated in December 2024, 57.3 per cent were indigenous, with the number of inmates on remand – waiting to be sentenced by the Court- driving up the population of youth in custody.

The BOCSAR statistics reveal the main offences driving the increase in youth population for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to December 2024 were break and enter and assault, while the number of Indigenous youths in custody that had been sentenced remained stable.

The number of adults in prison in NSW in December 2024 was 12,736, of which 11,871 were men and 865 were women, which is fewer incarcerated inmates than prior to Covid in December 2019.

Over the 12 months to December 2024, the number of adults in prison increased by 5.3 per cent, or 645 people, with Indigenous people accounting for 56.4 per cent of that increase.

BOCSAR Executive Director, Jackie Fitzgerald said in December 2024 there were 225 young people in detention across NSW.

“The increase in young people in custody since December 2023 is mainly due to an increased number of young people on remand,” she said.

“There’s been a 34.4 per cent increase in the youth remand population since 2023, with an increasing number of young people on remand for break and enter and assault offences.

“The main factor driving the increase in remand is a rise in the bail refusal rate.

“Over the past two years there has been rise in the bail refusal rate for young people, from 13.7 per cent in 2023 to 15.2 per cent in 2024.

“This increase in the severity of bail decisions is apparent across a range of offences.

“The number of young Aboriginal people in detention has also increased since December 2023, up 21.7 per cent, and this increase has also been wholly driven by rise in the number of Aboriginal young people on remand, which is up 22.6 per cent.

“Two-thirds or 68.2 per cent of Aboriginal young people in custody are from Regional NSW.” 

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 5 March 2025.