Elise Archer,Attorney-General
The latest annual Report on Government Services shows Tasmania’s justice and corrections sectors have continued to improve in key areas.
The report shows that for the 2020-21 reporting period, the daily average prisoner population decreased by 3.6 per cent and that Tasmania’s imprisonment rate of 149.2 per 100,000 adult population was the third lowest across all Australian jurisdictions.
Further, both our imprisonment rate for Indigenous Tasmanians and the ratio of Indigenous to non-Indigenous imprisonment rates are the lowest of the eight jurisdictions.
Tasmania’s prison utilisation rate of 89.4 per cent was also the lowest of the five jurisdictions who report on this indicator.
And Tasmania’s proportion of community-based orders classified as successfully completed was the second highest of all jurisdictions.
This year’s data also showed improvements in time out of cells, as well as the number of prisoners engaged in education and employment which continues to be a key focus of mine as Minister for Corrections.
While these results are promising, as I have said already, I do acknowledge that more needs to be done, and I am committed to doing it.
The Tasmania Prison Service (TPS) is continuing its strong recruitment drive, which allows for greater focus on rehabilitation programs, education and other positive activities for offenders.
We are also continuing to build modern facilities with $94.34 million invested in the Southern Remand Centre due to open this year, which will further assist the TPS to achieve positive outcomes.
In relation to the courts, the Magistrates Court saw a decrease of seven per cent in criminal lodgements compared to the previous year and a 10 percent increase in criminal finalisations over the same period. This resulted in a 15 percent reduction in the pending criminal caseload during this time.
While the data for the Supreme Court is not as positive, it’s important to note many other jurisdictions operate a three-tiered court model, whereas in Tasmania the Supreme Court deals with matters that are spread across two courts in other jurisdictions.
Our Government recognises the pressure the courts are operating under, exacerbated by COVID-19. In direct response to this, a seventh Judge was appointed in 2021 and an additional Magistrate in 2020 with another additional Magistrate to commence in 2022. This will bring the number of permanent Magistrates to 17 – the most that the Court has ever had. It will also provide an equal number of Magistrates between the South and the North/North-West of the State, and will allow the Court to deal with cases faster, while addressing any backlog of criminal matters.
Further the Justice Miscellaneous (Court Backlog and Related Matters) Act 2020, which commenced in July 2021, contains various provisions aimed at reducing the backlog in the Supreme Court.
The Magistrates Court (Criminal and General Division) Act 2019 is also expected to increase efficiencies in the Magistrates Court when it commences later this year.
