Indigenous over-representation in NSW prisons has worsened as the overall population drops, while more adults were sent to jail for sexual assault than any other crime last year.
New data on NSW custody populations, released on Tuesday by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), shows there are fewer inmates in the state's prisons as of December 2021 than there were at the same time in 2020.
There were 23 fewer people in juvenile detention, and 598 fewer people in adult prisons, falls of 12.5 and 4.7 per cent respectively.
But the proportion of the prison population who are Indigenous increased.
In juvenile detention, Aboriginal young people made up 42.9 per cent of the prison population, up from 39.7 per cent in 2020.
In adult prisons, the proportion was 27.5 per cent, up from 26.6 per cent.
The report notes the Aboriginal population could be undercounted by as much as two per cent "in more recent months" due to issues with identification and data collection.
Indigenous people represented about 3.4 per cent of the total population at the 2016 census.
The NSW government announced in October last year that "reducing the number of Aboriginal people in prison" was "the focus of a renewed commitment" and that "systemic changes and increased accountability are required to close the gap".
A review into Indigenous deaths in custody and the state's closing the gap implementation plan were among the government's response.
Other proposals include boosting funding for a new full-time coroner, expanding courts, including the Drug Court, removing hanging points from prisons, reviewing health services, and improving mental health support and support for people leaving custody.
Other notable findings in the BOCSAR report include an increased population of people on remand, while the percentage of those who had actually been sentenced after being convicted of a crime fell in adult prisons.
More adult prisoners were added to the population for sexual assault than for any other crime last year, by a significant amount.
The number of prisoners on a sexual assault charge or conviction increased by 67, far ahead of those whose crimes were "unknown" (27) or "miscellaneous" (16).
The only other two offences that saw an increase were public order offences (three) and property damage (one).
