THE number of physical assaults in Tasmania increased by nearly 25 per cent in 2011-12, compared with a 44 per cent hike nationwide.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' crime victimisation report released yesterday showed that 16,400 physical assaults occurred in Tasmania during 2011-12, compared with 12,600 the previous year.
The figures include assaults that went both reported and unreported to police, and were gathered through surveys of people aged 15 and over.
The state's 59 per cent reporting rate for physical assaults was the highest it has been since the report began in 2008.
The incidence of threatened assault, both face-to-face and via phone, email and social media, also increased in Tasmania.
Sexual assaults, break-ins and vehicle theft remained steady while robberies, attempted break-ins, theft from a vehicle and malicious property damage fell.
Tasmanian women were more likely to be victims of all types of assault in 2011-12.
The bureau's Fiona Dowsely said that on a national basis the number of people assaulted hadn't changed much but the number of victims suffering multiple assaults had increased.
Physical assaults covered being pushed, grabbed, shoved, choked, shot, burnt, hit and run over.