4517.0 - Prisoners in Australia, 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/12/2018   
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TASMANIA

Snapshot at 30 June 2018

Graph Image for PRISONERS, Tasmania, 30 June 2008 to 30 June 2018

Source(s): Prisoners in Australia


  • The number of adult prisoners in Tasmanian prisons was 614, an increase of 3% (18 prisoners) from 2017. (Table 15)
  • The adult imprisonment rate was 148 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 146 prisoners per 100,000 adult population in 2017. (Table 19)
  • Just over three in five prisoners (63% or 389 prisoners) had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 14)
  • The most common offences/charges were:
    • Acts intended to cause injury (22% or 137 prisoners);
    • Homicide and related offences (12% or 73 prisoners);
    • Sexual assault and related offences and Offences against justice (10% or 64 prisoners). (Table 16)

Sex
  • Males comprised 95% (581 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • Since 30 June 2017, the male imprisonment rate increased from 282 to 287 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population. During the same period, the female imprisonment rate decreased from 18 to 17 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 15)

Age
  • The median age of adult prisoners was 35 years of age. (Table 14)

Country of Birth
  • Overseas-born prisoners accounted for 4% of the Tasmanian adult prisoner population. (Table 22)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prisoners
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 19% (115 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander age standardised imprisonment rate was four times more than the non-Indigenous age standardised imprisonment rate (642 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 157 prisoners per 100,000 adult non-Indigenous population). (Table 18)
  • The rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners in Tasmania was the lowest of all states and territories (672 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population), with a national average of 2,481 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population. (Table 17)

Legal Status
  • Unsentenced prisoners comprised 29% (177 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 1.5 months, which was the shortest of all states and territories. (Table 32)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for sentenced prisoners was 2.0 years. (Table 26)