The missing mobile: Impacts from the incarceration of Indigenous Australians from remote communities

In Australia, the numbers and rates of Indigenous incarcerations continue their long-term increase, particularly in the Northern Territory where a third of the population are Indigenous. In this paper, we provide theoretical discourse on incarceration as a form of mobility and demonstrate the demographic scale of impacts for small and remote communities using indirect estimation methods. Results reveal significant proportions, especially those aged 20–39 years, may be missing and mobile through incarceration. Overlaid onto pre-existing high population churn, effects on immobile community members contribute to intergenerational demographic, social and economic dysfunction and point to the need for innovative solutions.