Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

This bulletin uses data from the 2015 National Prisoner Health Data Collection from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and the National Health Survey from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, to compare medications used by prisoners and those in the general community. The reasons for differences in prescribing in prisons are then explored using information from a focus group of prison health professionals.

This is the fourth report produced by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on the health and wellbeing of prisoners. The report explores the conditions and diseases experienced by prisoners; compares, where possible, the health of prisoners to the general Australian community, and provides valuable insight into the use of prison health services. New to the 2015 report are data on the disability or long-term health conditions of prisoners entering the prison system (prison entrants), self-assessed mental and physical health status of prisoners, and data on smoke-free prisons.

This bulletin provides an overview of health services in Australian prisons. It draws on data available from the 2012 National Prisoner Health Data Collection, supplemented by contextual information provided by state/territory departments responsible for prisoner health, to bring together a more comprehensive picture of services delivered to prisoners than has previously been available. The governance of health care in prisons in Australia is complex, with diverse services being delivered, including some outside prison.

This bulletin presents results from the 2012 National Prisoner Health Data Collection, focusing on smoking and smoking cessation behaviours of prisoners in Australia. In 2012, 84% of prison entrants were current smokers, which is around 5 times the proportion of the general community. Quitting smoking in prison is difficult: 35% of prisoners who were about to be released tried to quit smoking during their time in prison, but only 8% were successful.

This is the 3rd report relating to the National Prisoner Health Data Collection, which was developed to help monitor the health of prisoners, and to inform and evaluate the planning, delivery and quality of prisoner health services. Included are data from 794 prison entrants, just over 4000 prisoners who visited the clinic and about 9000 prisoners who took medication. New in 2012 are indicative data from 387 prison dischargees (prisoners expecting to be released in the 4 weeks following the collection).

This bulletin reports on the mental health of prison entrants, based on data from the 2010 National Prisoner Health Data Collection. In 2010, nearly one third of prison entrants reported that they had mental health issues (a rate 2.5 times higher than the general population); 16% of prison entrants were taking medication for mental health issues; 3 in 4 prison entrants who were taking mental health medication also used illicit drugs during the previous 12 months.