New research shows Newcastle and the Hunter are going against statewide trends as NSW experiences its sharpest rise in prison numbers in years. Data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) reveals the state’s incarcerated population reached 13,133 people in December 2025, an increase of 8.5 per cent in two years.
In contrast, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie saw a 6.6 per cent fall in inmates, with 656 people behind bars. The Hunter Valley also recorded a decline, dropping 6.4 per cent to 482 people in custody.
Across NSW, the surge is being driven by the number of people held on remand. Forty‑six per cent of adults in prison are now awaiting their court date — the highest proportion ever recorded — bringing the remand population to a new peak of 6,081 people. Executive director of BOSCAR, Jackie Fitzgerald, says domestic violence defendants are behind much of the rise.
“About half of the growth in the remand population over the past two years is due to an increase in domestic violence defendants being held in custody prior to their court date,” Ms Fitzgerald says.
“One in three adults on remand is now being detained in relation to a domestic violence offence.”
The report also highlights a worsening situation for Indigenous Australians in the justice system. Aboriginal adults in custody reached a record 4,452 people in December 2025, about 15 times higher than the non‑Indigenous rate.
“In December 2025, around one in 25 Aboriginal men living in NSW was in prison,” Ms Fitzgerald says.
“These record numbers show that we are still not seeing the reductions needed to address Aboriginal overrepresentation in custody.”
The data shows most remanded people are held for between one and three months, while sentenced inmates are serving on average more than 36 months. Men continue to make up the majority of the state’s prison population, with 12,275 males in custody compared with 858 women.
