Central West prisoners costing tax payers in excess of $228 million per year

Housing one inmate costs taxpayers about $330 per day, according to research from the Productivity Commission released in October of 2021.

Titled 'Australia's Prison Dilemma', the research suggests one prisoner costs taxpayers $627,000 each year.

It means per annum, that bill right across the Central West sits around the $228 million mark.

Of the state's 36 prisons, 33 are run by Corrective Services NSW and three are privately operated.

Six of those are listed in this region and they are:

Crunching data from this research with the latest report by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, it uncovers not only the number of people in correctional services across the state, but the need for system reform.

BOCSAR's quarterly figures show the number of incarcerated people in NSW to sit at 12,247 in the 12 months to December 2022.

This is an overall increase of 0.6 per cent in the prison population, with the data reporting an extra 79 people were jailed in that one-year timeframe.

But whether it's the rise of crime or outdated policies in need of change, two factors continue to remain "complex" pieces in the puzzle, according to the commission's research.

Because despite falling crime rates, the country's imprisonment rates are at "an all time high".

"There is no single reason why imprisonment has been increasing, but what we know is that 'tough on crime' policies have been a contributing factor," commissioner Stephen King said.

"It's a complex story."

While still comparatively lower than pre-pandemic days, BOCSARs data indicates the growth of inmates from December 2021 to 2022 has been driven by an increase in the number of defendants in custody.

Defendants are those who are on remand awaiting sentence or trial.

Although the number of prisoners to receive an actual sentence declined by 104 people, or 1.3 per cent, with the role that imprisonment plays in Australian society deemed important.

But the Commission's report still found operating prisons is expensive - and costing the nation's taxpayers more than $5 billion per year.

"Despite this expense, the system isn't working as well as it could be," Mr King said.

"Sixty per cent of prisoners have been there before [and that's] one of the highest rates in the world."

The research went on to highlight a range of alternatives to imprisonment such as community corrections orders.

Though it also recognised that even though this potentially lowers overall costs, a key consideration remained.

That is, justice for victims.

"Prisons are essential for violent and high-risk offenders, but there is a revolving door for people convicted of low-to-medium risk crimes," the commissioner said.

Those options could include supervision such as electronic monitoring, home detention, and intensive rehabilitation programs.

However a "critical first step" in the research suggested building a stronger evidence base to guide policy decisions.

"For low risk prisoners [those offenders being behind bars] doesn't keep society safer, we must look at alternatives," a second commissioner, Richard Spencer said.

"By making better use of these alternatives, there is an opportunity for the prison system to be more effective at maintaining community safety and significantly lowering the cost."

The overall adult prison population remains low, but the number of adults in custody who identify as Aboriginal grew by 166 in the year to December 2022 - a BOCSAR figure showing a rise by 4.9 per cent.

It also means that nearly one in every three Aboriginal adults in custody equates to 29.1 per cent of the prison population - a number amid the highest proportion on record.

Those in youth detention also grew slightly higher to the BOCSAR report prior, rising by an additional 14 young detainees.

With a figure of 174 juveniles behind bars at the end of that reporting period, this means that number grew by 8.8 per cent.

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