Jail population shrinking despite high rates of recidivism

The state averaged 627 people in custody per day in the September quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated.

That was down by 2 per cent compared with the June quarter.

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The average daily imprisonment rate was also down.

It fell from 150 per 100,000 adults in the September quarter of 2021 to 140.5 in the June quarter this year and again to 138.3 in the September quarter.

Only Victoria and the ACT had lower imprisonment rates.

The nation (212.1) had a significantly higher rate than Tasmania, bolstered by high rates in the Northern Territory (984.7) and Western Australia (320.5).

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The number of people in community-based corrections in Tasmania fell by 5 per cent to 1976.

It was a far cry from the early days of the Liberal state government, when the number of Tasmanian prisoners increased by about a third between 2014 and late 2017.

One issue pushing up Tasmania's prisoner numbers is that the state has a relatively high proportion of prisoners who find themselves back behind bars after release.

Slightly more than half (50.4 per cent) of Tasmanian prisoners released in 2018-19 returned to prison within the two years to 2020-21, according to the Productivity Commission.

That was higher than the national rate of 45.2 per cent and much higher than Western Australia (35.4 per cent) and South Australia (33.2 per cent).

Only New South Wales (51.5 per cent) and the Northern Territory (58.9 per cent) had higher "returning to prison" rates than Tasmania.

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Corrections Minister Elise Archer said reducing offender recidivism rates was "an absolute priority" of hers.

"Our government has improved and expanded services and programs for inmates and increased staffing at the prison significantly, including five additional therapeutic staff and the launch of three new programs in partnership with community organisations, focused on rehabilitation and reintegration support," Ms Archer said.

"We continue to focus on addressing the causes of offending behaviour and providing support for individuals reintegrating back into the community after leaving prison."

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