4517.0 - Prisoners in Australia, 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/12/2017   
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Tasmania

Snapshot at 30 June 2017

Graph Image for PRISONERS, Tasmania, 30 June 2007 to 30 June 2017

Source(s): Prisoners in Australia


  • The number of adult prisoners in Tasmanian prisons was 596, an increase of 5% (27 prisoners) from 2016. (Table 15)
  • The adult imprisonment rate was 146 prisoners per 100,000 adult population, an increase from 141 prisoners per 100,000 adult population in 2016. (Table 19)
  • Just over three in five prisoners (61% or 365 prisoners) had previously been imprisoned under sentence. (Table 14)
  • The most common offence/charge was Acts intended to cause injury (27% or 158 prisoners), followed by Homicide (12% or 70 prisoners). (Table 16)

Sex
  • Males comprised 94% (560 prisoners) of the total prisoner population. Females decreased by 37% or 23 prisoners, whilst males increased by 11% or 57 prisoners. (Table 14 and historical data)
  • Since 30 June 2016, the male imprisonment rate increased from 252 to 282 prisoners per 100,000 male adult population. During the same period, the female imprisonment rate decreased from 31 to 18 prisoners per 100,000 female adult population. (Table 15)

Age
  • The median age of adult prisoners was 34 years of age. (Table 14)

Country of Birth
  • Overseas-born prisoners accounted for 4% (26 prisoners) of the Tasmanian adult prisoner population. (Table 22)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Prisoners
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprised 20% (117 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 (655 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population compared to 152 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 (703 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population), with a national average of 2,434 prisoners per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population. (Table 17)

Legal Status
  • Unsentenced prisoners comprised 29% (171 prisoners) of the adult prisoner population. (Table 14)
  • The median time spent on remand by unsentenced prisoners was 1.4 months, which was the shortest of all states and territories. (Table 32)
  • The median aggregate sentence length for sentenced prisoners was 2.1 years. (Table 26)