Does a Lack of Alternatives to Custody Increase the Risk of a Prison Sentence?

The 2006 report of the NSW Standing Committee on Law and Justice raised concerns about the shortage of resources to service community-based sentencing options in remote areas. It was feared that this could result in an increased likelihood of prison for offenders residing in remote areas and exacerbate Indigenous over-representation in prison. This research found that, after controlling for legally relevant factors, the area of residence of an offender did affect their likelihood of imprisonment. However, the effect was in the opposite direction than expected, with remote and regional offenders being less likely to receive a prison sentence than offenders in inner metropolitan areas. No interaction effect was found for Indigenous status and area of residence suggesting that Indigenous offenders were neither more likely to be imprisoned nor less likely to be imprisoned within any particular area of residence. This bulletin sets out the research methodology and results and provides some explanations for the findings.