A new study released today shows the high rate of mental illness amongst Australian prisoners.

The report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found that 31 per cent of prison entrants report having been told by a medical practitioner that they had a mental health disorder, this can even include a drug and alcohol problem.

According to the report's author, Tim Beard, this is about two and a half times higher than the general population.

Those prisoners who have a mental health disorder also tend to have poorer socioeconomic and health characteristics than those not suffering from a mental illness.

This can mean something like being unemployed or unable to work due to disability.

So given the high rate of mental illness is there something we can learn from this study? Does it provide some food for thought on some changes in policy that might be needed?