The report indicated a 15 per cent increase in child safety grants and a 38 per cent increase in mental health and disability legal services.

Incoming legal aid director Vincenzo Caltabiano said of the total applications for aid 5498 were for new cases and 21,394 were extensions of existing grants.

Mr Caltabiano said the legal aid demographic snapshot was revealing of the overall Tasmanian community.

"Of the people we have helped, 26 per cent live in rural Tasmania, 6 per cent were over 65, 30 per cent who were granted legal aid are living with a disability, 8 per cent were Aboriginal Torres Strait Island and 62 per cent were receiving government benefits," he said.

Mr Caltabiano said legal aid's total funding for 2018-19 was more than $16 million, with $6,621,806 from the federal government and $8,170,765 from the state government.

Grants of legal aid totaling $5.19 million were made to private lawyers to help represent people - an increase of 6.5 per cent on the previous year.