Adults
- Currently more than one in five people in Western Australian prisons is on remand.
- Around ten per cent of prisoners being held on remand at any given time have been granted bail by the courts but are not able to meet the conditions set by the court. The other 90 per cent have not been granted bail.
- The number of people in prison on remand is going up much faster (over 100% in six years) than the sentenced prisoner population (13% in six years).
- The largest remand population increase has been seen in the Aboriginal female prison population.
- The proportion of remand prisoners in Western Australia is lower than the national average but the number of people on remand is growing faster than other states.
- Remand prisoners have a different legal status from sentenced prisoners, and have additional entitlements and needs (including links to courts). The prisons that have been most impacted by the changes are Casuarina, Bandyup, Albany and Bunbury prisons.
- The length of time on remand tends to be short: 55 per cent of stays are for less than one month and a quarter are for less than one week. Men were held on remand for longer periods of time than women. The median length of time on remand for males was 26 days whereas the median length of stay for women was 19 days.
- It cost considerably more to keep a person in prison on remand for a short time than it does to keep a sentenced person in prison for a longer period. However, the Department is unable to provide robust costings.
- The number of people appearing in the courts has increased markedly in the past few years.
- Almost all adults on remand were being held for multiple charges, and the average number of charges has also increased.
- In relation to males, the most common charges are, in rank order: offences against property, offences against the person, and offences against justice procedures.
- In relation to females, up until 2013, the most common charges followed the same order as for males. However, in the case of women, justice procedures offences now significantly outstrip offences against the person.
- People on remand were more likely to be involved in more incidents than their sentenced counterparts, in particular for incidents of physical assault and self-harm.
Young People
- Over 40 per cent of young people in detention are on remand (compared with 25% of adult prisoners).
- Unlike adults, however, there has been no increase: in fact the trend is down in terms of both the number on remand and the proportion.
- Up to late 2012, young people on remand were generally housed separately from sentenced children. That is no longer that case; all are housed at Banksia Hill Detention Centre.
- Young people were held on remand for less time than adults. Girls and non-Aboriginal detainees were held a median of 7 days and young Aboriginal males were held for a median 12 days.
- As with adults, almost all the young people on remand were held for multiple charges.
- Offences against property and offences against the person were the most common charge types.
- Lie their adult counterparts, young people on remand were more likely to be involved in more incidents than their sentenced counterparts, in particular for incidents of physical assault and self-harm.