Automatic language translation
Our website uses an automatic service to translate our content into different languages. These translations should be used as a guide only. See our Accessibility page for further information.
Below are definitions and explanations of the custody terms used in BOCSAR's custody data tables and publications. For further information, please contact us.
In addition to gazetted correctional centres, Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) also manages a several police and court cell complexes. BOCSAR data (excludes persons who are received into and discharged from a CSNSW-managed 24-hour police or court cell complex without entering a gazetted correctional centre.
Aboriginality as self-reported on reception into custody. Persons may identify as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander or may not provide this information. For each custodial episode, the most recent Aboriginality status recorded is used to ensure consistency across that episode. Where Aboriginality is unknown, the status is sourced from the associated Police record (if available).
A person held in custody in a gazetted correctional centre managed by Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW). Persons may have been remanded in custody after being refused bail or sentenced to a custodial order for a proven offence. The adult custody statistics also includes a small number of persons managed as forensic patients, persons held after expiry of their sentence awaiting deportation and persons awaiting extradition to another jurisdiction. Persons in the Special Purpose Centre at Long Bay Correctional Centre are not included.
Under the provisions of the Bail Act 2013, police and courts may grant or refuse to grant bail to persons who been charged with an offence and is awaiting their matter to be finalised in court.
Persons refused bail (and small numbers granted bail but unable to meet the bail conditions set by a court) are remanded into custody pending further court action.
Youth custody population data disaggregates persons remanded into custody into those refused police bail and refused court bail. This is because all young people refused police bail and held overnight are received into Youth Justice centres, whereas only some of adults refused police bail are held overnight in gazetted correctional centres or 24 hour court / police cell complexes.
BOCSAR Standard Offence Classification (BSOC) 2023 groups criminal offences into 18 broad divisions. BSOC is a modified version of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC) 2023, adapted to better suit the criminal offence legislations in NSW. Most notably, BSOC disaggregates ANZSOC 2023 Division 2 Assault into two Divisions, Domestic violence related assault and Non-domestic violence related assault. BOCSAR Custody Statistics show offences classified by BSOC divisions.
Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) is a NSW Government agency with responsibilities including the supervision of people remanded in custody pending the finalisation of criminal charges and offenders sentenced to a custodial order.
See Corrective Services NSW Home for further information.
The adult custody data are extracted from the Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) Offender Integrated Management System (OIMS), and provided to BOCSAR by the Corrections Research, Evaluation and Statistics (CRES) section of CSNSW.
See Bail
A custodial episode is the time between an individual’s reception into and discharge from custody. An individual may have multiple custodial episodes within the reporting period. A change in legal status during an episode, for example moving from from being bail refused to being sentenced to a custodial order, does not count as a new custodial episode.
Courts may impose a custodial sentence for a proven offence. For adults this is a term of imprisonment under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999. For young people this is a control order of up to two years duration or a term of imprisonment to be served partly or wholly as a juvenile under the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987. An individual may be given custodial sentences for multiple proven offences.
While the majority of adults held under sentence in a correctional centre are sentenced under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, offenders whose parole has been revoked by the State Parole Authority, persons sentenced under the Commonwealth Crimes Act 1914, those sentenced under the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020, as well as a small numbers of persons held under immigration orders awaiting deportation following expiry of their sentence and persons sentenced under legislation in other states or territories are also managed by CSNSW.
Refers to individuals held in either a Youth Justice NSW (YJNSW) youth detention centre or a Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) gazetted correctional centre, whether on remand or sentenced. Custody population figures are counted as at midnight on the last day of the relevant month or quarter. Individuals held in a CSNSW-managed police or court cell complex at midnight who are later transferred to a gazetted correctional centre are included in the custody population count for that month.
The type of reason why persons were discharged from custody:
Discharged from remand custody
Discharged to Bail - Individuals granted bail by the court pending the finalisation of their criminal charge(s). These individuals are released from custody under bail conditions until their matter is resolved.
Discharged to Community Order –Individuals whose criminal charge(s) have been finalised in court and who are discharged to a supervised community order.
Other discharged from remand custody – includes individuals who were discharged from remand custody after receiving a penalty other than custody or a supervised community order, those whose charges were not proven, and those discharged as a part of their participation in NSW Drug Court.
Discharged from sentenced custody
Discharged to Parole - Individuals released to parole after serving the non-parole period of custodial sentence(s).
Discharged where Sentence Expired - Individuals released from custody after serving the full duration of all custodial sentence(s) imposed. This includes some persons who served both the non-parole and parole components of their sentence(s) in custody.
Other discharged from sentenced custody – Includes individuals who were discharged from sentenced custody for reasons other than parole or sentence expiry, for example those deported following the expiry of their sentence.
Refers to individuals legally discharged from Youth Justice NSW (YJNSW) or Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) custody in accordance with a court order, including any State Parole Authority order. Examples include release to parole, expiry of sentence, or being granted bail.
Note: A change in legal status, such as moving from remand to sentenced custody or vice versa is not considered a discharge, as the individual remains in custody.
The legal status of persons received into or held in custody:
Remand (Youth) - Young people held in custody pending further court action, usually after being refused bail. This includes a small number who were granted bail but were unable to meet the conditions.
Youth remand figures are disaggregated into:
Remand (Adult) - Adults held in custody pending further court action, usually after being refused bail. This includes a small number of individuals who were granted bail but were unable to meet the conditions..
Remand figures also include:
Sentenced - Individuals for whom the courts have imposed custodial sentence(s) for proven offence(s).
This category includes:
Note: Individuals who are on remand for one or more offences and sentenced for others are classified as having a legal status of sentenced.
Unknown legal status - Individuals whose legal status was not recorded at the time of admission.
Legal status changed from remand to sentenced
Individuals whose legal status changed from remand to sentenced following the imposition of a custodial sentence by a court. BOCSAR data shows the numbers of individuals each month who changed from being on remand to being sentenced.
The offence type considered most serious for which an individual is in custody. Offence categories are based on the 18 BSOC Divisions(See BSOC).
Most Serious Offence – Adults: The most serious offence for adults is as provided by Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW). Although an individual may be held for multiple offences, BOCSAR reports only the most serious offence in the current imprisonment episode. This is generally the offence with the longest sentence, regardless of appeals. If multiple offences share the longest sentence, the most serious offence is determined using the National Offence Index (NOI) for the relevant ANZSOC group.
Most Serious Offence – Youth: The most serious offence for young people is determined by matching custody order records from Youth Justice NSW (YJNSW) with bail refusal and sentencing orders sourced from the JusticeLink system used by the NSW criminal courts. Matching is done using JusticeLink Proceeding Number, a unique offence identifier that is also available in the YJNSW data.
Individuals received into Youth Justice custody or a gazetted correctional centre managed by Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW). Excludes individuals received into CSNSW custody who are managed solely in CSNSW 24-hour police or court cell complexes.
See Legal status
The residential area for each individual in custody is determined based on the self-reported postcode of their last known address. Postcodes are mapped to the statistical areas within the Australian Statistical Geographical Standard (ASGS) (Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No: 1270.0, ABS 2011).
Measures the number of individuals who have spent time in custody on remand during the reporting period. This measure counts each person who has been held on remand, regardless of whether the individual is discharged into the community or transferred to sentenced custody and counts the duration spent in remand custody. Time on remand does not include time served under a custodial sentence.
An individual held in custody in a youth detention centre. These centres are managed by Youth Justice NSW (YJNSW). A young person in youth custody may have been refused bail by police, refused bail by the court or sentenced to a custodial sentence.
All young persons refused bail by police must be taken to a youth detention centre to be held in custody pending their court appearance. Young persons refused police bail cannot be held in a police or court cell.
Youth Justice NSW (YJNSW) is part of the Department of Communities and Justice with responsibilities including the supervision of young people remanded in custody pending the finalisation of criminal charges and young offenders sentenced to a control order/youth detention.
See Youth Justice NSW for further information.
The youth custody data is extracted from YJNSW’s Client Information Management System (CIMS) and provided to BOCSAR by the Research and Information Section of YJNSW.
We encourage your feedback. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Last updated: