Almost half of all prisoners in Australia expect to be homeless on their release from detention.
That's according to the 2022 Health of People in Australia's Prisons report from the Australian Institute of health and Welfare released on Wednesday.
The findings came from a survey of more than 800 detainees in 73 prisons around Australia, excluding Victoria.
More than 62,000 people are taken into prison or released each year.
Some 48 per cent of prisoner set to be released within weeks said they expected to become homeless.
Most planned to stay at emergency or short term accommodation while three per cent expected to sleep rough.
More than four in ten said they were homeless or unemployed in the month before entering prison and 73 per cent reported using illicit drugs at least once over the past year.
Other findings included 51 per cent reporting being previously diagnosed with a mental health condition and 20 per cent of respondents aged 18-24 reporting a history of self-harm.
About one in eight said they had been assaulted in prison and one in 50 said they were sexually assault, although the report noted assaults by prisoners are often under reported.
Some 371 people entering prison and 431 due to be released within a month took part in the voluntary survey, which was less than a quarter of those eligible.
Another 4,500 detainees who visited prison health clinics and 7,100 who received medication in prison also provided information.
