NCJ Number
178687
Date Published
1999
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A significant component of the debate surrounding private prisons in Australia is the perception by some people that inmates in private prisons are more likely to die or be more at risk of self-harm than those serving their time in public prisons; this study brings together available data on deaths, and separately on suicides, in public and private prisons in Australia to assess the validity of this perception.
Abstract
It has been just a decade since the first private prison opened in Australia, and now private prisons house approximately 3,000 of Australia's 20,000 prisoners. A number of deaths have raised the issue of whether private prisons are inherently more dangerous for inmates at risk. This study examined numbers of inmate deaths, both in absolute terms and in terms of rates per 1,000 prisoners per year. The study found that public and private prisons had similar death rates for all causes of death and for suicide specifically for the years 1990-99. Death rates were higher in prisons that housed remand and reception prisoners rather than long-term prisoners. Two large private prisons fell into this category. An examination of deaths in the three largest remand and reception prisons (two private and one public) in their first 20 months of operation (the settling-in period) showed that the death rate was approximately three times the national average for all prisons, and the suicide rate was approximately four times the national average. The authors advise, however, that these results should be viewed with caution, since Australia is still at an early stage in the process of privatizing correctional services, so the pattern of findings may change over time. 3 figures and 7 tables