The state government's quarterly Human Services dashboard showed that the average waiting time for priority applicants had gone up from 59.3 weeks in the March quarter to 63.6 weeks in the June quarter.

Housing Minister Roger Jaensch said that while that particular figure had "increased slightly", the government was investing in public housing and "helping more Tasmanians access housing that meets their needs".

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"[The quarterly dashboard] shows improvements in a number of areas, reflecting our commitment to help Tasmanians in need," he said.

"The number of applications on the housing register fell by 205 in the June quarter to 3373. This coincides with the delivery of 115 new social houses during the quarter."

"Pleasingly, the number of applicants who were housed increased to 266 across the quarter, up from 215 in the March quarter."

A total of 77 applications resulted in people being housed in June, bringing the total number of such applications this year to 481.

But Labor housing spokeswoman Alison Standen said Mr Jaensch had attempted to "play down" the increase in the average waiting time for priority applicants, which she said "smacks of desperation".

"Roger Jaensch promised to build 80 houses with the proceeds of the Commonwealth debt waiver but has delivered just five," Ms Standen said. "It is little wonder Tasmanians are languishing longer on the waiting list for public housing."

"His failure to deliver on his promises in the housing portfolio are just another reason we have no confidence in Roger Jaensch as a minister."

According to the Human Services dashboard, there were 71 notifications referred to Children and Youth Services for investigation in June. Notifications in this context refer to reports of suspected acts or risks of child abuse, neglect or harm.

"In Children and Youth Services, the data is also positive and shows the number of children referred for investigation across the quarter has decreased from the previous quarter, while the number of children in out of home care has remained stable," Mr Jaensch said.

"The government continues to see positive impacts from the Strong Families, Safe Kids reforms, which focuses on supporting families to stay together where it is safe to do so."

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