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to cause injury’ as their most serious offence, 2.7 times the proportion ofnon-Indigenous prisoners sentenced with the same offence (figure 3.12.3).• In contrast, only 1.4 per cent of Indigenous prisoners had been sentenced for‘illicit drug offences’ as their most serious offence, a considerably smallerproportion than in the non-Indigenous prisoner population (12.9 per cent)(figure 3.12.3).• For Indigenous and non-Indigenous prisoners, only 0.7 per cent and 0.9 per centhad been sentenced for public order offences, respectively (table 3A.12.9).Attachment tables 3A.12.8 and 3A.12.9 show the number and proportion ofsentenced prisoners by most serious offence and expected time to serve (mean andmedian months) at 30 June 2005 and 30 June 2006, respectively. Nationally,Indigenous prisoners were expected to serve shorter sentences than the overallprisoner population in most of the selected offence categories presented infigure 3.12.3, but were serving longer sentences for sexual assault and theft.According to the ABS (2006), unsentenced Indigenous prisoners spent less time inremand for most of the offence categories listed in tables 3A.12.8 and 3A.12.9 thannon-Indigenous prisoners in 2006 (in mean number of months), but were spendingmore time in remand for sexual assault, public order and miscellaneous offences.The number of prisoners and rate of imprisonment, by age group, are shown intables 3A.12.10 (at 30 June 2005) and 3A.12.11 (at 30 June 2006). The mean andmedian age of prisoners at 30 June 2005 and 30 June 2006 are shown intables 3A.12.12 and 3A.12.13, respectively. In 2006, the mean (average) age ofIndigenous prisoners was 31.6 years, some 4.2 years younger than the average ageof non-Indigenous prisoners (35.8 years) (table 3A.12.13).Data by jurisdiction on the proportion of prisoners on remand 12 are contained intable 3A.12.14 (at 30 June 2005) and 3A.12.15 (at 30 June 2006). Nationally in2006, the proportion of unsentenced Indigenous prisoners (21.0 per cent) wassimilar to the proportion of unsentenced non-Indigenous prisoners (21.3 per cent)(table 3A.12.15). From 2005 to 2006, the proportions of unsentenced Indigenousand non-Indigenous prisoners have increased slightly on a national basis(tables 3A.12.14 and 3A.12.15).12 According to the ABS (2006), remand prisoners are those persons who have been placed incustody while awaiting the outcome of their court hearing. They may be unconvicted (remandedin custody for trial), convicted but awaiting sentence or awaiting deportation.130