• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

Tasmania

Snapshot at 30 June, 2016

• The number of adult prisoners in Tasmanian prisons was 569, an increase of 10% (50 prisoners) from 2015. (Table 14)

• The adult imprisonment rate was 141 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 130 prisoners per 100,000 adult population in 2015. (Table 18)

• Just over three in five prisoners (61% or 349 prisoners) had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 13)

• The most common offence/charge was acts intended to cause injury (21% or 118 prisoners), followed by homicide (12% or 66 prisoners). (Table 15)

• Males comprised 88% (503 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 13)

• Since 30 June, 2015, the male imprisonment rate increased from 247 to 252 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population. (Table 14)

• During the same period, the female imprisonment rate nearly doubled, increasing from 16 to 31 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. This is the highest rate for females in 10 years. (Table 14)

• The median age of adult prisoners was 34 years of age. (Table 13)

• Overseas born prisoners accounted for 4% (25 prisoners) of the Tasmanian adult prisoner population. (Table 21)

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 16% (92 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 13)

• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was four times the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (523 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 151 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 17)

• The rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners in Tasmania was the lowest of all states and territories (569 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population), with a national average of 2,346 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population. (Table 16)

• Unsentenced prisoners comprised 27% (155 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 13)

• The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 1.4 months, which was the shortest of all states and territories. Time on remand as reported in the Prisoner Census is time spent on remand as at 30 June 2016, and not the total time on remand. Time on remand is influenced by a number of factors, particularly the time it takes for a case to come before a court. (Table 31)

• The median aggregate sentence length for sentenced prisoners was 2.0 years. (Table 25)