The ACT has the lowest incarceration rate in the country, according to new statistics.
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Imprisonment statistics issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today showed the territory holds 87 prisoners for every 100,000 adults.
That is the lowest rate in Australia, and is around half the national average of 166 prisoners per 100,000 people.
It is also well below Victoria, which recorded the second lowest incarceration rate of 107 prisoners per 100,000 people.
Yet the actual number of prisoners in the ACT has been gradually increasing in recent years.
In June 2010, the ACT had 220 total prisoners, increasing to 233 in March 2011 and 244 in June 2011. That represents an 11 per cent increase in prisoner numbers over 2010-11.
The Northern Territory had the highest imprisonment rate of 748 prisoners per 100,000 adult population.