The number of people waiting in a New South Wales jail for their cases to be heard in court hit a record high during December, according to the state’s Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR).
It found two out of five adult prisoners — or 5,055 people — were on remand.
This amounted to 42 per cent of the total state prison population. In December 2013, the figure was 27.9 per cent.
Prisoner advocates and lawyers say the rising trend risks doing further harm.
“The criminal law for New South Wales clearly states incarceration is the last resort, not the first,” said Claude Robinson, manager for Sydney-based halfway house, Rainbow Lodge.
“The sentencing guidelines are that a term of incarceration — the removal of somebody’s liberty — is the most serious thing you can do to them.
“With the huge increase in remand, we’re making that decision to remove their liberty, and they haven’t even been found guilty.
“I think that is detrimental to our whole justice system.”
According to BOCSAR, people are waiting an average 90 days on remand.
The main cases driving the increase involved allegations of domestic violence assault (up to 201 cases), sexual offences (up by 144 cases), and non-domestic assault cases (up by 71 cases).
Cases involving accusations of intimidation, stalking and weapons offences also contributed to the increase.
More cases going to court
The NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) said the biggest driver for the number of people on remand was that more cases were going to court.
“In the year to June 2015, there were 123,899 people with a first court appearance in NSW,” a spokesperson said.
“In the year to June 2023, that figure had increased to 154,357 — an increase of 25 per cent.”
The DCJ said a second factor was the 2015 change to the NSW Bail Act, with bail refusal rates increasing by 11 per cent since.
The NSW Minister for Corrections Anoulack Chanthivong referred the ABC’s questions about the remand system to the NSW Attorney General Michael Daley.
Mr Daley has not responded to requests for comment.
Incarceration can be ‘devastating’
BOSCAR data showed for the year to September 2023, 1.4 per cent of prisoners on remand were found not guilty.
Of those who had at least one charge proven, 39.1 per cent received a non-custodial penalty.
The impact of this could be “devastating”, Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Karly Williams said.
“People on remand generally can’t access custodial programs and education to the same extent as people who are serving a prison sentence,” she said.
“It’s just time in limbo, and some people live this way for over a year.”
Ms Williams said of the 21 Indigenous deaths in prison custody documented across Australia in 2022-23, 11 involved unsentenced people.
“They languish in custody without access to programs and education, and for many people it means losing their job, their housing and their kids,” she said.
Law Society of NSW president Brett McGrath said the time waiting for matters to be resolved could also be an injustice for victims.
“We have consistently advocated for increased court resources, including additional magistrates and judges, to reduce backlogs in our justice system,” he said.
“This is not only for the benefit of accused persons, but also for alleged victims and witnesses, for whom justice delayed can be justice denied.”