Tasmania

Quick facts

On an average day in 2020–21, in Tasmania:

  • 118 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision
  • 15 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under supervision
  • Indigenous young people were almost 5 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision.

Among those under youth justice supervision in Tasmania:

  • 92% were supervised in the community, and the rest in detention
  • 77% were male
  • 34% of those aged 10–17 identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin
  • 71% of young people in detention were unsentenced (awaiting the outcome of their court matter or sentencing), and the rest were serving a sentence.

Young people spent an average of about 27 weeks under supervision during the year.

Over the 5 years to 2020–21, the number of young people under supervision on an average day fell by 11%, while the rate for those aged 10–17 decreased from 17 to 15 per 10,000.

Impact of COVID-19 on youth justice data

This report includes data from March 2020 to June 2021, which coincides with the presence of COVID-19 in Australia. However, the direct impact of COVID-19 and related social restrictions on the number of young people under youth justice supervision is difficult to determine due to a range of factors including:

  • variability of the data
  • variations in state-based legislation, policy and practice
  • small numbers of young people under youth justice supervision on an average night.

More research is required in order to better understand the impact of COVID-19 and related social restrictions on youth justice supervision across Australia.

Number and rate

On an average day in 2020–21, in Tasmania:

  • 118 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision (Table S136a)
  • 9 in 10 (92%) were supervised in the community (Table S136b), and the rest (8%) in detention (Table S136c)
  • the rate of supervision was 15 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 (Table S137a)
  • 14 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision (Table S137b), and 1.5 per 10,000 were in detention (Table S137c).

Age and sex

On an average day in 2020–21, in Tasmania:

  • 68% of those under supervision were aged 10–17, and the rest were 18 and over
  • 77% of those under supervision were male
  • males under supervision were most likely to be aged 18, while females were most likely to be aged 16 (Table S136a).

 

Tas Figure 1: Number of young people under supervision on an average day by age, sex and Indigenous status 2020-21

This population pyramid shows the age, sex and Indigenous status under supervision, community-based supervision and detention for Tasmania. The age distribution of males and females was broadly similar, however males under supervision were slightly older on average than females. The largest number of males under supervision were aged 18 or older, while for females they were aged 16. Very few males and females under supervision were aged 13 and under.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people

On an average day in 2020–21, in Tasmania:

  • Indigenous young people made up 10% of those aged 10–17 in the general population, but 34% (or 27) of those of the same age under supervision (tables S136a and S143)
  • a similar proportion of Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were under community-based supervision (33% or 24) and detention (43% or 3) (tables S136b and S136c)
  • Indigenous young people aged 10–17 were almost 5 times as likely as non-Indigenous young people to be under supervision (51 per 10,000 compared with 11 per 10,000) (Table S137a)
  • Indigenous over-representation was similar in community-based supervision (about 4 times the non-Indigenous rate) (Table S137b). Indigenous over-representation in detention could not be calculated due to small numbers.

Time under supervision

In 2020–21, in Tasmania:

  • the median duration of individual periods of supervision that were completed during the year was 365 days (52 weeks) (Table S29)
  • when all time spent under supervision during the year is considered, young people spent an average of 189 days (about 27 weeks) under supervision (Table S30).

Sentenced and unsentenced detention

On an average day in 2020–21, in Tasmania:

  • 71% of young people in detention were unsentenced—that is, they were awaiting the outcome of their court matter, or had been found guilty and were awaiting sentencing
  • over 2 in 5 (46%) young people in detention were serving a sentence (proportions might not sum to 100% because some young people were in sentenced and unsentenced detention on the same day) (Table S107a).

Trends to 2020–21

Over the 5 years to 2020–21, on an average day in Tasmania:

  • the number of young people under supervision fell overall from 133 to 118, after peaking at 155 in 2018–19 (Table S136a). The rate decreased overall from 17 to 15 per 10,000 young people aged 10–17 (Table S12a)
  • in community-based supervision, the number fell overall from 123 to 109 with a high of 144 in 2018–19 (Table S136b). The rate decreased slightly from 15 to 14 per 10,000 (Table S45a)
  • in detention, the number fell by 15% (Table S136c), and the rate decreased from 1.8 to 1.5 per 10,000 (Table S83a).
     

Tas Figure 2: Number and rate of young people under supervision on an average day, by supervision type, 2016–17 to 2020–21

This line graph shows the number and rate of young people under supervision, community-based supervision and detention over the 5 years from 2016–17 to 2020–21 for Tasmania. It shows a decline in the rate under supervision and community-based supervision since a peak in 2018–19, while the rate for detention declined overall with a high in 2019–20.

More information

This fact sheet is part of the Youth justice in Australia 2020–21 release, which includes a report, state and territory fact sheets, and supplementary data tables.

Together, these provide comprehensive information about young people under youth justice supervision in Australia due to their involvement, or alleged involvement, in crime.

For more information see the Youth justice topic.