Imprisonment in Australia: The Offence Composition of Australian Correctional Populations, 1988 and 1998.

The article presents an estimate of the Prison Census in Australia, and analyzes the offences for which people were imprisoned in 1988 and 1998. It cites the trends in the offence composition of Australian prison populations by age, gender, and jurisdiction. It notes that the offence composition of prison populations has stayed stable over the 10 years between 1988 and 1998, but there have been significant changes at the level of individual offences. Moreover, it notes the decline of prisoners sentenced for theft, as a percentage of the total prison population.