EDS: Not for use before 0100 AEST Wednesday September 28
CANBERRA, Sept 28 AAP - Smoking and mental illness are among the biggest health problems for prisoners in Australian jails.
The Health of Australia's Prisoners 2010 report, released on Wednesday, reveals 30 per cent of prisoners surveyed had some history of mental illness.
"On entry to prison, almost one-fifth of new prisoners were referred to the prison's mental health services for observation and further assessment," the report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says.
It adds that during a two-week census period, almost one in 10 prisoners visited clinics for a psychological or mental health issue.
One in five prisoners were taking medications for mental illness and about the same number had a history of self harm.
The report also found high levels of smoking and alcohol consumption among prisoners.
Tobacco was a currency in jails, it said.
"Four in five prison entrants were smokers, and three in four said they smoked daily, while more than half reported drinking alcohol at risky levels," the report said.
"Two-thirds of prison entrants said they'd used illicit drugs in the past 12 months, and over half had injected drugs at some time in their life."
The report found that risky behaviours such as smoking and alcohol consumption were higher among indigenous prisoners than non-indigenous inmates.
More than a quarter of prisoners had a chronic health condition such as asthma, arthritis, cardiovascular disease or diabetes.
A further 35 per cent had tested positive to hepatitis C, the report said.
There were 29,000 prisoners in custody in Australia on June 30, 2010.
The report used data from the National Prisoner Health Census, which did a two-week survey.